2005 Kashmir earthquake

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A collapsed tower in Islamabad, where hundreds are believed dead or injured.

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Map

Location of Epicenter

Location of Epicenter and aftershocks

The 2005 Indian Subcontinent earthquake occurred on October 8, 2005 at 03:50:38 UTC at 34°25′55″N 73°32′13″E, in a Pakistan-administered region of the disputed territory of Kashmir. The United States Geological Survey gave its magnitude as 7.6, with an epicenter close to Muzaffarabad, about 95 km (60 miles) north-northeast of Islamabad and 125 km (75 miles) west-northwest of Srinagar at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles) from the surface. The Japan Meteorological Agency gave it a magnitude of 7.8. The earthquake is classified as "major" by the USGS.

Casualties

The BBC has reported that the Pakistani government suggests that "Casualties will be high... they could be well over 1,000."

Known casualties include

• 250 bodies have been recovered in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir according to authorities from Muzaffarabad.
• The 16 army personnel who died were killed in a bunker collapse in Uri sector of Kupwara, defence officials said.
• At least 39 people were killed and over 150 others are being treated for injuries in Srinagar's SMHS hospital.
• At least 35 people were killed and hundreds injured after a massive earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale jolted Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.(DD News)
• According to CNN, the Pakistani Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad has said one girl has been killed when a school came down in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. According to NDTV report one person died in Baramulla in India's Jammu and Kashmir state when a building collapsed.
• Initial reports said that they were felt in Delhi, Punjab and Jammu, Afghanistan and Kashmir. At least 15 people were injured and four shops damaged.
• According to the Associated Press, at least a dozen people were injured and dozens more were feared trapped in the rubble of a 19-story collapsed building, reported earlier, in Islamabad.

Casualty estimates

• Officials in Muzaffarabad, near the epicenter, have stated that fifty percent of the buildings in the town have been destroyed, including most official buildings, and that 2000 are feared dead.

Damage

• 400 houses flattened in Jammu and Kashmir; Hazratbal tower damaged. (Rediff)
• Two residential towers in Islamabad, believed to contain up to 75 apartments, collapsed in the quake. Pakistani government officials at the site stated the number of people affected by the collapse was in the hundreds, many of whom are feared dead. Efforts by rescue workers are ongoing. [1]
• The quake triggered landslides, burying villages and roads in some areas.
• Karakoram highway is blocked at several points, hindering relief efforts.
• The 200-year-old Moti Mahal fort in Poonch district, Kashmir, collapsed. [2]
• Pakistani television reports widespread severe damage to Balakot, Garhi Habibullah, one village in Rawalakot, and Muzaffarabad, where 2000 are thought to have died.

Aftershocks and other earthquakes

There have been many secondary earthquakes in the region. 14 occured with a magnitude greater than 5 in the first 10 hours after the original earthquake (see USGS for complete list).

Rescue Operations

• The disaster management cell at the home ministry Control room telephones: 91 011-23093563 -64-66

• The Pakistan Army has been directed to extend all out help to the civilian population in the quake-hit areas. All civil and military hospitals have been directed to deal with the situation on an emergency basis. The President and the Prime Minister have appealed to the nation to stay calm in the face of the calamity and asked the concerned authorities to carry out an immediate assessment of the extent of damage caused by it. Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spoke on the telephone with authorities in four provinces plus Azad Kashmir, and directed them to utilize all machinery and make all possible efforts to help the victims. He said the whole federal administration, civil and military authorities have been alerted and relief goods have been provided to them for the victims of the quake. Most of the roads are closed in the Northern Sector near the earthquake, and some have been completely washed out, so the Pakistani army is flying supplies in by helicopter.

• The injured are being treated at the Srinagar's SMHS hospital and the Uri Field Hospital, with many makeshift medical facilities being set up to help the injured.

• A list of NGO welfare agencies working in the immediate vicinty of the earthquake epicenter is given at: http://www.muzaffarabadak.com/mzdNGO03.htm

See also

• List of earthquakes

Earthquake preparedness

• Emergency preparedness
• Household seismic safety
• Seismic retrofit
• Earthquake prediction

External links

• USGS - Technical details of the Earthquake
• USGS - Seismicity of Central Asia
• Earthquake "Strong tremors felt across North India". October 8. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• "Strong Quake Rocks Indian Subcontinent". October 8. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• "Nature's Fury - In Pictures". October 8. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• "Hundreds die in South Asia quake". October 8. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• "Strong quake jolts Pakistan". October 8. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• "Strong Earthquake". October 8. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• "Quake coverage from across Pakistan". October 8. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year=, |date=, and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)