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| December 13, 2005 | Tuesday | Ziqa’ad 10, 1426 |
Powerful earthquake causes panic in South Asia ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (AFP) - A strong 6.7-magnitude quake struck at 2:48 am (2148 GMT Monday) with an epicentre in the remote Hindu Kush mountains of northeastern Afghanistan causing panic among the survivors of October 8 earthquake and forcing people out of temporary shelters and into the freezing Himalayan winter. However, there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. Witnesses said in Islamabad it felt like the strongest tremor since the 7.6-magnitude earthquake on October 8.In Muzaffarabad, people came out of their tents and started screaming. "Our men are surveying positions in remote villages but there are no reports of casualties so far," said a police spokesman in Srinagar. Seismological official Nasir Mehmood from the Pakistan Meteorological Department said: "The magnitude is 6.7 according to our final computation," revising upwards an earlier estimate of 6.6. "It was a fierce intensity earthquake about 375 kilometres (235 miles) north of Islamabad in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan." The US Geological Survey also put the quake at 6.7 on the Richter scale and said it originated some 230 kilometers under the surface of Afghanistan's northeastern mountain chain. France's earth sciences observatory registered the quake at magnitude 6.9. Correspondents said the quake could also be felt in the Afghan city of Jalalabad and the capital Kabul, as well as the Pakistani city of Peshawar but that it was too early to tell if there was any major damage.(Posted @ 10:17 PST)
Dozens injured in Peshawar as severe earthquake hits country PESHAWAR, Dec 13, (APP): Dozens of people received injuries when a severe earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale struck on Tuesday at 2:48 a.m. in many parts of Pakistan. The injured were rushed to various hospitals in the city. According to the hospital sources at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) as many as 40 students of Peshawar and Engineering University have sustained injuries, many of them head injuries.(Posted @ 16:02 PST)
Pakistan quake aid focus comes down the mountains ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (Reuters) The focus of earthquake relief in Pakistan's mountains was now shifting to the about two million people below the snowline after most of the people at higher altitudes were taken care of, a U.N. official said on Tuesday. "The major challenge for the people is to stay warm and to stay dry," United nations chief coordinator Jan Vandermoortele said Tuesday. "We think now is the time to focus below the snowline," he told a news conference hours after a 6.7 magnitude quake in the Afghan Hindu Kush mountains. There were no immediate reports of casualties. A survey of the quake zone by 210 teams determined that 2.4 million blankets or 1.2 million quilts were needed, Vandermoortele said. A total of 170,000 good quality plastic sheets were needed urgently to cover tents and 200,000 tarpaulins for tent floors, he said. The cost of delievering the aid would be about $45 million, said Vandermoortele, who reiterated an appeal to donors to keep the relief operation going. The emergency operation was costing $50 million to $60 million a month and the amount given this month was only a fraction of that given in November, Vandermoortele said. "We have a concern about the continued flow of contributions," he added. (Posted @ 15:16 PST)
Donors urged to provide quick quake-relief to Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): The London-based international aid agency Oxfam has said that so far only one-fourth of the promised quake relief funds had reached Pakistan and urged the donors and international community to work together and work faster to fulfill its promise to prevent further deaths," ANI reported. Pakistan army has started replacing regular tents that many refugees are using with winterized, especially in the highlands, where night time temperatures already are dropping below freezing," Oxfam's Pakistan country director Farhana Faruqi Stocker said. According to the report, Pakistan had distributed more than six lakh tents, but the UN had described them as inadequate to face the harsh winter conditions that has already set in.(Posted @ 10:22 PST)
PBM to set up 38 schools for quake affected children ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal will establish 19 national centres and 19 training centres for the earthquake survivors, both boys and girls. The decision was taken on Monday at the 44th session of the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mail board of management which noted that till now Rs. 150 million have been distributed in the quake affected areas of NWFP and Azad Kashmir. Besides, 25000 eligible persons are being registered under Food Support Programme and a centre has been established at Hattian (District Attock. The meeting decided that the number of centres for children should be increased form 101 to 150, and 23 more vocational centres for women should be set up in addition to the existing 108.(Posted @ 10:20 PST)
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