Tsunami alert partly lifted after Aceh quake

A tsunami watch declared after two major earthquakes off the coast of Indonesia's Aceh province has now been partly lifted, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PWTC) says.

A quake with a magnitude of 8.6 triggered the initial warning, which was renewed after another quake a few hours later measuring 8.3.

Alerts remain in place for Indonesia, India and the islands.

There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The region is regularly hit by earthquakes. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed 170,000 people in Aceh alone and some 250,000 around the region.

The US Geological Survey (USGS), which documents quakes worldwide, said the first Aceh quake was centred at a depth of 33km (20 miles), about 495km from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.

Source: BBC News

Andaman Quake

Reports tumbling out of tremors felt in Japan and across the east coast of India after the 7.6 quake off the Andaman Islands. NYT states that a tsunami warning has been issued for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh.

--UPDATE--

Tsunami watch for five countries (India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia) has been called off.
Ref: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/
Ref: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/10/india.earthquake/

For those of us who slept through the worry and frenetic NOAA-watching, bless you. May no one ever be woken by a disaster, ever again.

Comment-spam warning

Hi. This is just to warn you that thanks to this blog's high rankings and incoming links, most posts have been infested with comment spam. So, when you open a post that shows you a large number of comments, please be be warned that the very large number of links in the spam comments will make the page very slow to load, and cause it to scroll down interminably. In extreme cases, your browser could show script errors, crash or even hang your machine.

Unfortunately, Blogger makes it easier to comment-spam than it does to delete the darn things. We don't have the time to delete this crap comment by comment, though we do try and clean up in small bursts. Until we do, this post will stay up as a warning.

Should you wish to contact any of the blog team, please scroll down to the "contributors" section in the sidebar and click through to their pages, where some may have contact info listed, or click on from there to their blogs, where you can leave a comment.

While this blog is no longer kept updated, it has been left online as a historical record and an aid to researchers and academics. The group blogs about ongoing disaster relief efforts all over the world at World Wide Help, and has a newsgroup and even a Facebook Group you can join.

Thank you.

Solomon Islands: Six dead from tsunami

From the CNN

"At least six people died in the Solomon Islands Monday after two earthquakes and a tsunami hit the western part of the island-chain nation, the country's chief spokesman said.....

The United States Geological Survey said the first earthquake took place at 6:40 a.m. (2040 GMT on Sunday) and was centered 25 miles south-southeast of Gizo, New Georgia Islands, and 1,330 miles north-northeast of Brisbane, Australia.A second quake of 6.7 magnitude hit a few minutes later, according to the USGS. It was centered 75 miles west-southwest of Chirovanga, Choiseul, Solomon Islands, and 1,410 miles north of Brisbane, Australia.

The quakes led to a tsunami warning for a huge part of the Pacific. Australia and Indonesia were among the areas named in a warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, as were Papua New Guinea and several other islands in the region.A watch was issued for some other parts of the Pacific, including New Zealand, the Philippines, American Samoa, Guam and Fiji.

Initially, Hawaii was put under an advisory, but not a watch or warning. By evening, the advisory was lifted. The Solomon Islands are popular with international tourists. Most homes in the mountainous islands are constructed of timber and bamboo, with villagers relying on fishing and logging for employment."

Deadly Earthquake in Indonesia

A powerful earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing at least 70 people and flattening hundreds of buildings. The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 6.3, and was centred near the town of Padang.

There are fears the death toll may be higher as many people are believed to have been trapped beneath rubble. The quake struck at 1049 local time (0349 GMT), causing panic among residents in western Sumatra.

A strong aftershock - magnitude 6.0 according to the US Geological Survey - struck two hours later causing further damage and panic.

An Indonesian government spokesman, Sudi Silalahi said 70 people had been killed.

Read BBC News for the full story.

Swedish Survivors, 14 Months On

Press Release Received This Week:

When asked, one quarter of Swedes who were in Southeast Asia during the tsunami reported impaired mental well-being fourteen months after the disaster. This is shown in a comprehensive follow-up carried out at the National Center for Disaster Psychiatry at Uppsala University in Sweden, in collaboration with representatives from the Stockholm County Council and the Karolinska Institute.

The report also shows that relatives, friends, workmates, and neighbors provided the most important help when the travelers returned home. A large proportion (78%) of those who responded were in a place hit by the tsunami. Among these individuals, 41 percent perceived their situation as life-threatening, and 27 wound up in the water. The most common explanation for why they each survived is that it was simply happenstance, that they were lucky.

Nearly all of them report that they were afraid another tsunami wave would come. One fourth were experiencing disturbances in their mental well-being at the time of the questionnaire. In total, ten percent show signs of post-traumatic stress reactions such as recurrent memories, nightmares, avoidance behavior, concentration problems, and sleeping problems.

This proportion increases among individuals who had had their lives threatened, been physically injured, or lost a loved one. This latter group will be specially targeted in coming reports. The assistance these people were most satisfied with before leaving Southeast Asia was provided by the local people, close friends and relatives, other disaster victims, local health-care staff, and Swedish volunteers. They were less satisfied with aid efforts from the Swedish authorities.

After returning to Sweden, alongside their own resources, what was the most important factor in coping with the stress was support from close friends and relatives. If individuals actively sought help, it was primarily from crisis groups and family doctors, as well as social workers and psychologists at care centers. Only a few turned to psychiatry. Private psychotherapy and support from ministers was especially appreciated.

The respondents also report that they were highly satisfied with the support offered at Arlanda Airport and the reception provided to those who lost loved ones at Ärna Airport in connection with the return of the remains of victims. Many individuals were also satisfied with the support they received from insurance companies. These results constitute a first report, based on responses from nearly 5,000 individuals.

They answered a questionnaire sent to more than 10,000 people fourteen months after the tsunami. The study was performed by the three largest county councils/regions: Stockholm, Western Götaland (surrounding Göteborg), and Region Skåne (surrounding Malmö) as well as seven other county councils. The response rate was highest in Blekinge.

The study was carried out by the National Center for Disaster Psychiatry at Uppsala University in collaboration with the Unit for Crisis and Disaster Psychology at the Stockholm County Council and the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Statistics at the Karolinska Institute.

The report can be read (in Swedish) at: http://www.katastrofpsykiatri.uu.se/rapporttsunami061204.pdf

Indonesia/Java Earthquake & Tsunami

The WorldWideHelp Group is blogging the recent Indonesia/Java Earthquake and the subsequent Tsunami at the WorldWideHelp Blog. Please go there for regular updates and relief/aid information.

Asia tsunami warning system up and running

A tsunami warning system covering the Indian Ocean region is now "up and running", UNESCO has said. The UN organisation, which has overseen the project, says the whole region can now receive and distribute warnings of possible tsunamis.

The system is in place 18 months after the devastating tsunami of December 2004 that killed more than 200,000. The Pacific region has had a system for 40 years and others are planned for the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean.

Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of the UN's scientific and cultural organisation, said the nations involved should be "justly proud of having done all this and much more".

There are 26 national tsunami information centres receiving information from 25 new seismographic stations. There are also three deep-ocean sensors to detect and report tsunamis.
Read the Full Article at BBC News
Read the UNESCO Press Release

Suriname floods

Just a heads-up that the World Wide Help Group is blogging about the floods in Suriname at http://worldwidehelp.blogspot.com/.

Information from and about Suriname in general, and the flood situation in particular would be most appreciated. As would information about aid efforts, whether official, NGO-led or ad-hoc, national or international. Mail us at suriname[AT]worldwidehelp[DOT]info.

And we could really use your help if you can translate from and to Dutch.

TSUNAMI ALERT for Fiji and New Zealand

From the Associated Press:

A magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck early Thursday near the South Pacific nation of Tonga, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A tsunami warning was issued for Fiji and New Zealand.

The temblor, classified by the USGS as a "great" quake, struck 95 miles south of Neiafu, Tonga, and 1,340 miles north-northeast of Auckland, New Zealand.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the tsunami warning but said it was not known whether the quake generated a potentially deadly giant wave.

Earthquake M6.1 Indonesia Talaud Island

The Following Earthquake has been Reported:

Date: 2006/03/31 21:14:40.8
Region: Talaud Islands, Indonesia
Magnitude: Mo 6.1
Latitude: 3.8947 N
Longitude: 126.3045 E
Institute: NEI
Injured Exp. min/max: 0 / 0
Fatalities Exp. min/max: 0 / 0

The earthquake is located 40 km off shore. Only small settlements along the coast.

More Information can be found here:
http://www.wapmerr.org/user_quake.htm

Help needed in the Andamans

This in from a friend in the Andamans.

I don't know if this blog is still active but I need help...

I've recently started work, with PRAYAS Andaman & Nicobar, in one of the worst affected Areas during the Tsunami of 26th December 2004. My organisation has been here since the relief phase, and we basically work with child rights and ensuring that Children are restored to their pre-tsunami (or even better by peaking any pre-tsunami acmes)states of life.

Life here is difficult but the work... Is endless...!

The relief work has long stopped and we are in the process of rehabilitation and rebuilding... And this is as equally crucial a phase as the relief phase...

We need the world not to forget us...!

The reason I'm posting here is to seek help with getting Medical (peadiatric, ENT, Opth, Dermatology, Nursing, first-aid etc) and Education (Teachers and Teacher-Trainers) specialists over to the islands, with the view of conducting camps and workshops (orientation, refresher and capacity-building)here.

I still am in the process of formulating an overall plan and would appreciate tips and Ideas.

If anyone has anything for me i'm contactable at vijay DOT jivay2003 AT gmail DOT com

Thanks
Vijay

Indonesia: Magnitude-7.7 Earthquake Occurs in Banda Sea

A magnitude-7.7 earthquake rocked eastern Indonesia early Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There was no danger of a tsunami. The quake struck at 0158 Saturday (1658 GMT Friday) in the Banda Sea, about 120 miles south of Ambon city, the USGC said on its Web site. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake's hypocentral depth was estimated to be 342 km (212 miles). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no destructive tsunami threat existed. Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location atop a volcanically active region known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire."


Source: USGS via Associated Press

Remembrance Week - 26th December, 2005 - 1st January, 2006

Last year, on the 26th December, an earthquake, and then a tsunami, killed, wounded, or impoverished hundreds of thousands of people in South Asia.

During the course of the year, other disasters took their toll too. Most devastating of them: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the South-East coast of the USA; and another enormous earthquake near Pakistan's border with India.

These disasters took their immediate toll, and, each time, the world tried to help. But as calamity piled upon calamity, there has been a certain amount of fatigue. Perhaps people's stock of goodwill has run low. Perhaps seeing too much suffering hardens us.

But, the fact is, the suffering from those disasters has not ceased. Parts of South Asia have still not recovered from December 26th, 2004. In the USA, normalcy hasn't returned to New Orleans. In Pakistan, thousands are still homeless, and may not survive the harsh Himalayan winter.

They need your help.

Last December and this January, the online community came together as never before to help in the aid efforts in South-East Asia. The lessons learned there were put to use, and improved upon, when the other tragic events of the year unfolded.

Can we harness that goodwill, that togetherness, that willingness to help once more?

The WorldWideHelp group would like you to join us in Remembrance Week. Here's what we suggest you do.

Use your blogs, your home pages, your wikis, your newsletters. Link to your favourite charities and NGOs, write a paragraph about them and the work they are doing, and ask your readers to make a donation. (If you'd like to find some more charities and NGOs, please take a look at this page on our TsunamiHelp wiki, this one on our KatrinaHelp wiki, or this one on our QuakeHelp wiki.)

Please link back to this page to help pass the word. You can use the image above.

Please use this Technorati Tag: Disaster Remembrance Week.
Here's the code:
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/disaster%20remembrance%20week" rel="tag">Disaster Remembrance Week</a>

In this post, we have a few more banners and buttons, with intructions on the code you must post to use them.

Tsunami Anniversary Trek - Thailand

Evelyn Rodrigues, who found herself caught in the tsunamis in Thailand, and had live-blogged her experiences thus bringing the pain and suffering closer to people all over the world, goes back on a Tsunami Anniversary Trek, and once more shares with her readers, a first-hand account of her trip. Worth a read for those interested in looking into the lives of people, their pain, and fears that still haunt them, one year after the terrible disaster.

Sri Lanka to commemorate tsunami victims on Dec. 26

The Sri Lankan government is to hold a special commemorative program in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the tsunami catastrophe on Dec. 26, Daily News reported Thursday. President Mahinda Rajapakse will attend the event which will also coincide with the launch of the "Jayalanka" program to accelerate rehabilitation of the displaced victims.

A two-minute silence is also to be observed islandwide at 9:30 a.m. local time. During the period, all citizens are requested to stop whatever activity they are engaged in and remember those who lost their lives in the catastrophe and commit their dedication towards rebuilding the nation.


Source: Xinhua via People's Daily Online

800 Tsunami Bodies Remain Unnamed

Almost a year on and Australian experts are still on the ground in Thailand dealing with the appalling aftermath of the tsunami. The Australian Federal Police forensic team said yesterday another 800 bodies in Thailand are yet to be identified. Many never will be. AFP Disaster Victim Identification teams rushed to Thailand after the waves hit, putting to work their experience gained in identifying bodies in tropical climates during the aftermath of the Bali bombings. Once established, the AFP found itself co-ordinating a crack forensic squad made up of experts from 30 countries.

Though the horrific mess left behind by the tsunami is today in the back of most Australians' minds, the AFP DVI teams are still confronted with the horror on a daily basis, working in conditions that are hot and uncomfortable. The AFP will wind back its commitment to Thailand in February, but only after teaching the Royal Thai Police the latest scientific techniques in identifying bodies. Australia will also leave behind a $50,000 trailer kitted-out with the latest forensic equipment. About 5000 people died in Thailand when the tsunami smashed into the coast on Boxing Day. Read More....


Source: Herald Sun

Discovery Channel's Tsunami Show

Thanks to Maria Park for this useful information:

AMERICA’S TSUNAMI: ARE WE NEXT? follows an international team of 27 scientists, led by Dr. Kate Moran from the University of Rhode Island, as they become the first team to reach the seafloor site of the devastating December 26 Asian tsunami. Using state-of-the-art camera equipment, the special shows never-before-seen footage of the epicenter and the massive and dramatic geologic changes that caused gigantic waves.

AMERICA’S TSUNAMI: ARE WE NEXT? premieres December 18 at 9 PM (ET/PT) on Discovery Channel in US.

Most of Japan's bilateral tsunami aid remains untouched

More than two thirds of the bilateral aid Japan offered after the Indian Ocean tsunami remains untouched, raising questions on whether the massive assistance met victims' needs, a report said Monday. Japan was one of the biggest donors amid the outpouring of global sympathy following the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami, disbursing US$ 500 million to governments of affected countries and international aid groups.

But nearly 70 percent of the 24.6 billion yen ($204 million) in bilateral aid to Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri Lanka remains unused nearly a year later, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Indonesia, the biggest aid recipient at 14.6 billion yen, did not start using the money until May 4 and as of Nov. 10 had withdrawn only 15.8 percent of the funds, the newspaper said.

Japan, the world's biggest aid donor in dollar terms after the United States, usually offers low-interest loans rather than grants and attaches the money to specific projects. But after the tsunami, Japan broke with its usual practice by giving cash handouts and letting governments choose what to spend the money on, although their plans still had to be approved by Tokyo. By contrast, Japan offered $20 million in aid after Kashmir's earthquake in October.


Source: The Jakarta Post

The tsunami: Living in transition

Just under half a million Sri Lankan people were displaced by the tsunami that hit the island's coastline on the morning of 26 December 2004. Nearly a year on, many are still living in refugee camps, waiting for government and aid agency help to rebuild their homes. They have been told they may have to stay in transitional shelter for up to three years, while the estimated 100,000 homes to house them are built.

Save The Children Sri Lanka has funded PhotoVoice, a London non-profit organisation, to run a five-week intensive photojournalism training workshops near Matara, in the island's southern province, to let children document their lives a year after the tsunami. Journalists David Gill and Annie Dare are teaching eight children between the ages of 12 to 18 from the coastal village of Kamburagamuwa.

Some of the group lost family members, some lost friends, some lost belongings and some lost homes. As the anniversary of the tsunami approaches, each of these children is lucky enough to have a permanent house to call his or her own. For the next fortnight, they are partnering families from the nearby fishing community of Talaramba. Here they are gathering stories from and photographing the daily lives of people forced to live in an overpopulated transitional shelter made of wood and corrugated tar sheets.

In the coming weeks, Annie and David will also be training children living in the transitional camps in photography, so that they too can tell their stories. The next update on the BBC News website will include these pictures. An exhibition of the final body of work will be exhibited in Sri Lanka at the beginning of December and also at Save the Children in London EC1 from 19 December. If you are interested in finding out more about this project or the resulting exhibition please contact anna at photovoice.org


Source: BBC News via ServeSriLanka

Aceh Diary: Blogging from Aceh

Shaela Rahman of the International Finance Corporation has recently moved to Aceh to set up the Private Enterprise Partnership for Aceh and Nias. She has just arrived, but will be blogging on the World Bank's PSD Blog several times a month, sharing her progress and thoughts. Click here to view an introductory post about Shaela and her first blog posting can be found here.

Magnitude 6.5 Quake Hits Off Indonesia

A magnitude 6.5 quake rattled two islands off the coast of Sumatra on Saturday, triggering a tsunami alert and panicking some residents, officials said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The quake's epicenter was located off Simeulue Island, about 160 miles southwest of Medan on Sumatra's west coast, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck just after 9 p.m. local time.

The island is near the epicenter of the Dec. 26 quake that caused a massive tsunami, killing at least 180,000 people. Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency put the magnitude at 6.2, saying it was centered 19 miles under the Indian Ocean seabed, about 40 miles southwest of Sinabang, the main town on Simeulue island.

Rusdi, a resident of Sinabang contacted by The Associated Press, said the quake was felt there, but did not cause any widespread panic in the town. He uses only one name. The quake strongly jolted nearby Nias island and was felt in Medan, said Subagio, an official at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency's Jakarta office who goes by a single name. Agus Mendrofa, the deputy mayor of Nias, told El Shinta radio station that some people momentarily fled their houses when the temblor struck.

"It was pretty strong because it was the first time in the past months that people ran out of houses because of a quake," Mendrofa said from the island's main town of Gunung Sitoli.

He said he had received no reports of damage elsewhere on the island. Saturday's tsunami alert was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.


Source: BBC News | ABC News | CBC

the World Wide Help group

Many of the people behind this and similar projects [MumbaiHelp, Cloudburst Mumbai, Katrina Help blog and wiki, Rita Help blog and wiki, South Asia Quake Help blog, wiki and SMS Quake] have got together in a single group.

The idea is that any time there's a disaster, any member of the group can alert the a ready-made team, all of them with experience in the field, enthusiasm and goodwill, and request help to get something going.

Once the actual project takes shape, the individuals involved may decide to form a separate coordination group to run things.

The other part of the agenda is that we can exchange info, learn from the things we did wrong, and get better each time the sad, but inevitable happens.

Group Page:
http://groups.google.com/group/WorldWideHelp

Group description:
General newsgroup and rallying point for power bloggers, wiki experts, database adepts, etc, for calls to action and volunteers to provide information post-disasters.
Will also be used to exchange information in more peaceful times, so we can all learn from our experiences.

Join This Group question:
Please tell us which online relief efforts you have participated in, and your strengths (eg. blogging, wikis, databases, tech innovation, hosting, sponsorship, etc).

Go here to send in a join request.

For fresh updates on the 8th October earthquake

For fresh updates on the 8th October earthquake, please visit us at http://quakehelp.blogspot.com/, where the team has duplicated the information posted here so far.

We will now be posting exclusively to the new blog, http://quakehelp.blogspot.com/. Please send the link to your friends, and let us know if you'd like to help.

Pakistani college closed - Update from Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad

Abbottabad and areas around faced a heavy eartquake (7.6) at 8:42 AM today the 8th September 2005 which resulted in damage to many buildings and have claimed many lives in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Balakot, Garhi Habibullah, Muzafarabad and areas north to this region.

All hospitals in the region are on Red Alert receiving victums of the quake. More than 200 patients have been treated in Ayub Teaching Hospital till now (3:30 PM)

The Surgery Paper B of Final Year MBBS has been posponed while the rest of the examination will be on schedule. The College will remain closed till further order. The hostels have been evacuated as a precaution. For more information please email, call +92-(992)-381907 or send a fax to +92-(992)-382321


Source: Ayub Medical College

Fearing aftershocks, Pakistan hospital treats wounded outdoors

Lying on makeshift beds on a hospital lawn in this northwestern Pakistani hill town, some screaming in pain, hundreds of men, women and children wait for help. But they have to stay there for now, because doctors say the monster earthquake that rumbled through the region early Saturday could have made the building dangerous.

"We feel it is unsafe to keep patients inside," Amir Shah, a senior doctor at the Ayub hospital in Abbotabad, told AFP.

Already at breaking point because of the flood of victims and a shortage of supplies, vilent aftershocks added to the worry.

"Our doctors and paramedical staff are scared to go in. The building has already developed cracks," Shah said.

Abbotabad is on the road towards the epicentre of the quake and is just miles (kilometres) from the worst affected area, where thousands of people are feared to have died. In the nearby districts of Mansehra and Malakand in North West Frontier Province police said the up to 600 had perished, while Pakistani-controlled Kashmir was thought to have suffered even bigger casualties. Some of the injured interviewed by AFP at Ayub hospital said they saw entire villages razed.

"I was working in the field close to a building when I felt the jolt and saw houses tumbling down to the ground," one of the injured, Wali Rehman, from Ugi village in North West Frontier Province, told AFP.

"I know my mother and my family have died," he said, weeping.

Another victim from near Balakot town in Kashmir said at least 200 homes in his village were flattened. "It was complete devastation all around," Jehanzib Khan told AFP.

As ambulances and vans continually ferried injured people to the hospital, the lawn became more crowded with patients. A hailstorm as night fell a hailstorm added to their discomfort. Dozens of people, mainly workers from the local Al-Khidmat private aid service, had gathered at the hospital, trying to arrange medicines, food and blood for the injured. They also brought food for victims to break their fast as the third day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan came to a close. But doctors feared they have only treated a fraction of the victims from the earthquake. Many affected areas have been cut off by landslides and it will take people hours or even days to get to Abbotabad.

"We need medicines, blood and equipment to treat the stream of wounded people," said doctor Nadeem Gohar.


Source: ReliefWeb

Hospitals inundated after Asian quake

The South Asia quake struck just before 6 o'clock in the morning Central European Time, and was just 10 kilometres deep. It was followed by a series of strong aftershocks. It is reported that several villages close to the epicentre of the quake have been totally destroyed. In Islamabad, scores of people were feared killed or trapped in two 12-storey apartment blocks that collapsed.

In Afghanistan, authorities say apart from the death of a young girl when a wall collapsed, and some damage to buildings, the country appeared to escape the worst of the quake. Deaths have been reported in many outlying areas in Pakistan, but so far there is no official tally. Hospitals have been inundated with scores of people who have been injured.


Source: EuroNews

The Quake-affected area

From the BBC here, as part of this report.

UN ready to assist the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan

The United Nations is ready to assist the victims of the earthquake which occurred on 8 October in Northern Pakistan, also affecting neighbouring countries of India and Afghanistan.

“ We are in contact with the Governments of the countries affected. OCHA stands ready to dispatch an United Nations Disaster and Coordination Team (UNDAC) to help assess the damage and coordinate the response in Pakistan”, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland said today.

In Geneva, an UNDAC team is on stand-by ready to be deployed at the request of the Government of Pakistan. An aircraft has been made available by the Government of Switzerland to fly directly to Islamabad later today.

In Pakistan, damage to buildings and houses have been reported in Islamabad. More severe damage is being reported in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar. It is anticipated that the death toll might be severe.

The high intensity of the earthquake in Pakistan was also felt in Afghanistan and across northern India. In India, where buildings have collapsed, official reports confirm the death of more than 200 people and more than 400 injured. There is minor damage in Afghanistan where two people are reported to have been killed.


Source: ReliefWeb

India: About 250 killed in J&K quake, 650 injured

Srinagar, Oct 8.(PTI): About 250 people, including 25 security personnel, were killed and 650 others injured in a powerful earthquake that rocked Jammu and Kashmir this morning leaving a trail of devastation.

Hundreds of houses and other buildings collapsed or were damaged in the tremor, which was the strongest in over 120 years, and was followed by over a dozen aftershocks that triggered panic in the area.

Official sources said the death toll was continuously mounting as reports have started pouring in from far off places which got cut off from the mainland due to the earthquake.

Baramulla district of North Kashmir was the worst hit where 142 people died especially in the border town of Uri where a number of villages near the Line of Control almost got flattened.

Read teh Full Story at The Hindu

Quake kills '400' schoolchildren

The bodies of at least 250 children have been pulled from the rubble of a school destroyed by the powerful earthquake in north-west Pakistan.

Police chief Riffat Pashar told Reuters news agency 350 altogether had died in the collapse in Mansehra district.

"Fifty were killed in another school in the same district," he said. There is no confirmation.

More than 2,000 people are feared dead from the 7.6-magnitude quake that hit Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

The earthquake, which was registered at 0350GMT, was felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, and India's capital, Delhi.

Read the Full Story at BBC News

India offers help to quake-hit Pakistan

Despite reeling under the aftermath of the devastating earthquake, India on Saturday offered rescue and relief assistance to neighbouring Pakistan, parts of which also suffered extensive damage in the natural calamity.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a message to President Pervez Musharraf said, "while parts of India have also suffered from this unexpected natural disaster, we are prepared to extend any assistance with rescue and relief which you may deem appropriate".

He expressed distress at the extensive loss of life and property in Pakistan as a result of the natural disaster.

The prime minister conveyed condolences to those who have been bereaved in the tragedy.

In another message, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh conveyed to his counterpart Khurshid M Kasuri profound sympathy to all those who have lost their loved ones and those who have been injured in the quake.

"Please do not hesitate to indicate to us in whatever way we can be of some assistance both for rescue and relief in the affected areas," he said.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran spoke to his Pakistani counterpart for the first time over the hotline activated recently to convey sympathy over the tragic loss.

Soure: Rediff.com

MSF team at Asian earthquake zone

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has a staff of three who recently arrived in the Pakistani area to start a project on safe motherhood. The focus now is to mobiize more staff and supplies to the region. An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale struck in the north of Pakistan this morning, just 80 kms north of the Pakistan capital, Islamabad. The affected area runs from the north of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Kashmir.

MSF was already present in the area with three expats in the village of Lamnian in Pakistani Kashmir, some 15 kilometers from the line of control with Indian Kashmir and close to the epicentre of the earthquake. The three are a project coordinator, logistician and nurse and were about to start a project there and were hiring national staff.

The village has been completely destroyed, including the clinic where we are about to start working and the MSF house. The project would focus on safe motherhood. All team members are fine. The Pakistani army is responding with big logistical/medical capacity

MSF is now focusing to getting reponse capacity to the region. Stocks from Quetta, Dubai and Mumbai will be moved up to the north and MSF is looking into how to get additional resources in the country; cargo as well as people (blankets; jerrycans; sleeping mats and tents)


Source: ReliefWeb

Aftershocks still felt hours after Pakistan quake

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Strong aftershocks rattled the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on Saturday afternoon, hours after a deadly quake shook the south Asian subcontinent.

Reuters correspondents in Islamabad, New Delhi and Kabul all reported feeling a strong aftershock at around 1045 GMT -- nearly seven hours after the main quake which was centred around 95 kms (60 miles) northeast of the Pakistan capital.

Pakistan officials say whole villages have been flattened by the quake and they fear thousands of casualties.

Source: Reuters AlertNet

Czech rescuers prepared to help Asia hit by earthquake

Czech rescuers are prepared to go to the south Asian regions badly hit by an earthquake today, spokesman of the Czech Fire and Rescue Corps Petr Kopacek and spokesman for the Hand for Help humanitarian organisation Jana Eichlerova said.

The rescuers are only waiting for an official request from local authorities. The firefighters are able to prepare their rescuer team within 24 hours and rescuers from Hand for Help are also capable of leaving for the region at the same time, they said, adding that money-raising campaigns have been launched already.

"We don't know yet what the Pakistani government requests and what it will need. We don't know whether they want foodstuffs or a special team," Kopacek said. He said that the rescuer and reconnaissance team which also includes dog-handlers, could be prepared to leave within 12 or 24 hours. Hand for Help, which organised help in Southeastern Asia which was hit by a devastating tsunami last year, is also waiting for an official request from Pakistani authorities.

Director of the Czech ADRA Jan Barta said that his organisation was collecting the first information and would organise a money collection if need be. Czech Catholic Charity is also prepared to start a collection on the Internet, its spokesman Jan Oulik said.


Source: CTK

Disaster Management Helpline in India

The disaster management cell at the Indian Home Ministry Control room telephones:

91 (011)-23093563
91 (011)-23093564
91 (011)-23093566

UN to help countries affected by Pakistan earthquake

8 October 2005 – Following a massive earthquake in Pakistan that affected also Afghanistan and India, the United Nations is working with the governments of those countries on an emergency response.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is exploring “ways in which the United Nations can assist in all efforts required to support relief and rescue operations and in subsequent recovery and reconstruction,” a spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in New York.

The spokesman said Mr. Annan is “deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction” caused by the quake, which had a magnitude of 7.6 and struck 95 kilometres outside of Islamabad.

Source: UN News Centre

UNDP India - Earthquake Situation Report 1

A strong earthquake of magnitude 7.4 occurred on 8th October 2005 at 8.50.38 AM (local time) with epicenter at 34.432°N, 73.537°E in Muzaffarabad Region of Pakistan lasting for 6 minutes. The depth of the earthquake was at 10 km with preliminary location at 93 km from Islamabad, Pakistan, 114 km from Mingaora, Pakistan and 124 km from Srinagar, Kashmir. Subsequent after shock tremors of 5.9, 5.6 and 5.2 and 6.0 magnitude at intervals were recorded in the same region of Kohistan region i.e 65 km east of Mingaora, Pakistan and 172 kms North West of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), India.

The high intensity earthquake was felt in part of Afghanistan and across northern India covering states of Jammu, Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Delhi, and Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh at 9.25 a.m. IST on 8th October 2005. The worst affected districts in Jammu and Kashmir due to impact of the high magnitude earthquake are districts of: Poonch, Baramulla , Jammu, Udhampur, Ramban Kathus, Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kupwara.

Location 34.748°N, 73.141°E
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles)
Region PAKISTAN
Distances 71 km (44 miles) E (93°) from Mingaora, Pakistan
120 km (75 miles) N (0°) from ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
164 km (102 miles) SE (139°) from Chitral, Pakistan

Preliminary Location
4.0 kms SE of Ghori, POK
10.7 kms ESE NNE of Muzaffarabad, POK,
32.9 kms ENE of Manshera, Pakistan,
60.9 kms NW of Uri (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
90.2 kms NNE of Islamabad, Pakistan,
123 kms WNW of Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir), India,
326 kms NNW of Lahore (Punjab), Pakistan,
740 kms NW of Delhi (NCT), India.

Damage Details:

Pakistan: Strong tremors were felt in northern Pakistan, rocking buildings in the capital Islamabad
Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar. Reports of server damage to buildings, houses and
casualties of injured residence and death toll risen to 1000 people have been reported from Islamabad,
Muzaffarabad, North West Frontier Province(NWFP) and Lahore districts. Army and the state
administration are conduction rescue and relief operations.

Jammu Kashmir, India:

Official reports confirm death of 213 people (Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara, Uri, Poonch,
Udhampur and Doa districts) , including 16 army personnel, in Jammu & Kashmir and death of
1each in Gurdaspur and Batala districts, Punjab.

385 people have sustained injures due to collapse of building walls in Paraypora, Poonch,
Baramulla, Srinagar and Anantnag districts while 7 buildings were damaged in Amristar,
Hoshiarpur, Moga, and Gurdaspur in Punjab state.

Preliminary assessment state damage to 963 masonry buildings (houses, buildings) reported
from Uri, Baramulla and Sopore towns of Baramulla district and in Srinagar, Anantnag,
Baramulla and Kupwara districts .

Incidence of fire reported in parts of Baramulla district while Moti Mahal Fort in Poonch district
and Reasi Fort in Reasi district have sustained damages. People in the affected districts
panicked and came out their homes after shock tremor felt at 4.15 IST.

Communication network, infrastructure facilities and traffic has been disrupted on the National
Highway 1A between Srinagar-Muzaffarpur and Boniyar due to landslide triggered by the
earthquake.

Administrative Measures:

The affected district administration are being assisted by the army and air force to conduct
rescue/search and relief operations in Uri, Tangdhar, Baramulla and Kupwara sector, while
essential supplies, including power, water and telecommunication are being restored .

The personnel have evacuated injured persons to Uri Field Hospital. Makeshift hospitals are set
up and doctors were being flown to Uri to attend to the injured.

The Home Secretary Government of India has taken stock of the situation with the Chief
Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir .Also the secretaries of Central ministries/departments have
been requested to extend emergency support.

Prime Minister of India is closely monitoring the situation and announced an ex-gratia amount
of Rs 1000,000 to persons dead and assured all possible Central assistance to the state.

For Further Information:

G Padmanabhan
Emergency Analyst, UNDP
E-mail: g.padmanabhan@undp.org,
Mobile: 91 -- 98104 02937
http://www.undp.org.in/dmweb/

Source: ReliefWeb

Oxfam: Asian Earthquake: Update 2

Oxfam has just coordinated a meeting in Islamabad of all of the international aid agencies responding to the earthquake.

At that meeting it was agreed which organisation would be leading in which area to ensure a coordinated response.

Teams from each of the agencies are leaving on assessment and response missions, some have already left and in the next few hours more will be
dispatched.

It is becoming clear that the most affected area is Pakistan administered Kashmir where 5 out of 7 divisions are severely affected. Oxfam has started an assessment in 3 of these 5 areas with teams already on the ground. Winter is drawing in in the region and night time temperatures are already dropping. Winterised tents and blankets will be urgently needed.

Read the Full Story at ReliefWeb

Quake rocks parts of tsunami-ravaged Aceh, North Sumatra

Jakarta, Oct. 8 (AP): A strong earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province today, causing panic among residents, official and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck near southern Aceh's Singkil town and its surrounding areas at 11:30 am (1000 IST), said Muslih, an official at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

Muslih, who uses one name like many Indonesians, said the quake strongly jolted Singkil, but so far there were no reports of its effects.

Andayani, an official at the local district office, said many panicked city-dwellers ran out of their houses when the quake struck.

Read the Full Story at The Hindu

Severest earthquake in 120 years in Jammu & Kashmir: official

Srinagar, Oct. 8 (PTI): The earthquake that shook Jammu and Kashmir today was the severest in the state in over 120 years, a senior officer of the weather office said.

Our records show that an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude was felt in the valley with epicentre at Sopore in Baramulla district of North Kashmir on May 30, 1885, Director, Weather Office, G K Mohantey, told PTI here.

He said although Jammu and Kashmir usually witnessed moderate to severe earthquakes in the past as well, today's tremor was the severest.

Mohantey said today's earthquake had the magnitude of 7.4 on the Richter scale and its epicentre was at a place near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan at latitude 30.6 degrees north and longitude 73.0 degrees east.

Read the Full Story at The Hindu

Indian Army seizes Uri town, bars media entry

Boniyar (J & K), Oct. 8 (PTI): The Army has seized Uri and barred media from entering the town of Baramullah district in Jammu and Kashmir even as the injured were being evacuated hours after the 7-plus magnitude earthquake flattened it this morning.

Survivors of the giant quake said in this hamlet, 20 km from Uri, that the death toll was "much higher" and the entire town had been flattened.

They complained that the relief and rescue efforts had not come speedily and were not enough.

Source: The Hindu

Indian Met office warns of strong aftershocks

New Delhi, Oct 8. (PTI): After the massive earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan today, strong aftershocks continued to rock the region with the Met department warning of more in the next several days.

Seven aftershocks measuring over 5.0 on the Richter scale were recorded after the temblor measuring 7.4 rocked the region at 0920 hrs IST. All were epicentred near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strongest of these was a 6 magnitude jolt recorded at 1616 hrs and several smaller ones were felt through the day.

A Met official said aftershocks were a normal phenomenon after a major earthquake and these were likely to continue for several days.

However, no warnings were being issued as it was not possible to predict the timing of the aftershocks, he said.

Today's temblor was one of the strongest recorded in the region in recent times.

Source: The Hindu

First field assessments out of Pakistan

There's an urgent call for medical assistance in Mansehra, 50 kilometer north of Islamabad. A german-based medical ngo - Humedica International has just sent in their first team into Pakistan. They are deploying mobile relief hospitals and working with a local ngo in the area - PAK relief to assist 3,000 displaced persons in the area - intially.

Humedica International is calling for certified medical volunteers to join their team, download the volunteering form from here. You may also get in touch with Joerg Eich at +49-8341-9661480 or email j.eich@humedica.org

Asia Quake: Affected Areas

Image Courtesy: BBC News

Quake shakes subcontinent; thousands feared killed

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A major earthquake shook cities and villages across the south Asian subcontinent on Saturday, "wiping out" several villages in Pakistan and leading to fears that the death toll could run into thousands.

Officials said heavy damage was expected in northern Pakistan, but details were difficult to obtain because telephone lines were down and mobile networks overwhelmed.

"The deaths could be running in the thousands. We do not have an exact figure for casualties at this moment, but it's massive," President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, told Reuters following a aerial survey of stricken areas.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.6, struck at 0350 GMT and was centred in forest-clad mountains of Pakistani Kashmir, near the Indian border, about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad.

Source: Reuters AlertNet

Stampede after quake injured several women in Faisalabad

At least dozens of women workers of a textile mill wounded in stampede created when a strong quake hits Kharianwala, Faisalabad.

The injured were rushed to Kharianwala social security hospital where a woman reported in critical state. People still gathering in open areas and grounds due to quake fear.

Source: The Nation

Asia Quake Images

Image Courtesy: AFP/Getty Images

Hundreds die in South Asia quake

Pakistan says more than 1,000 people may have died in a powerful quake that also hit north India and Afghanistan.

The quake with a magnitude of at least 7.6 had the epicentre 80km (50 miles) north-east of Islamabad.

At least 500 died in North-West Frontier province in Pakistan and 1,700 were injured. In Indian-administered Kashmir, 200 are confirmed dead.

Rescuers are trying to reach dozens of residents feared trapped in a building that collapsed in Islamabad.

Source: BBC News

Massive tremors rock north India

Massive tremors rocked North India at 9.25 AM on Saturday morning. Tremors measuring 6.8 on the richter scale were felt in Delhi, Srinagar, Amritsar, Patiala, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Dehradun. The quake had its epicentre in Pakistan.

Immediate reports from Jammu & Kashmir say that normal life has been disrupted. Communication lines have been disconnected. People have left their houses and taken refuge under the open sky.

The tremors went on for about thirty seconds and are reported to have also been felt in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Local television in Pakistan said the quake caused panic in Islamabad, as well as nearby Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta near the Afghan border.

Source: Rediff.com