ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is providing 500 tents to victims of two severe earthquakes in the Northern Areas that have forced most of the population of 85,000 to sleep outside in sub-zero temperatures, the UNHCR Islamabad announced on Thursday.

The donation of tents, taken from a reserve kept for emergencies in Afghanistan, is part of a coordinated response by the United Nations to two earthquakes that struck in the mountainous north of the country in November.

An earthquake that hit Astore Valley on November 21 killed at least 19 people. This was followed by an earthquake in the Raikote area on the night between November 1 and 2 which killed 11. In the nine worst-affected villages, nearly 12,000 people were forced to leave their homes.

“There was an urgent need for tents, especially the double- fly tents suitable for winter that we are making available,” Hasim Utkan, head of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan, said.

He said: “Temperatures have been as low as minus eight Celsius in the mountain valleys where this tragedy struck.

“The Pakistani government has supported the UNHCR in the past and made it clear that it would appreciate any help we can provide.”

“We had tents in reserve in case they were needed for a crisis in Afghanistan but obviously this is an emergency,” he added.

The donation announced on the eve of Eidul Fitr will provide urgently needed shelter. Most of the population is sleeping outside their damaged houses, 90 per cent of the houses in the worst-hit areas have cracks and can collapse in future aftershocks. Some 2,506 people have been moved to three emergency sites.

A joint team of the United Nations and the government of Pakistan concluded that the area would require long-term rehabilitation assistance.