THE SOUTH ASIA EARTHQUAKE - OCTOBER 2005
The earthquake hit on the 8th of October. It occurred at 8.50am: a time when a lot of students were arriving at schools, and there are fears that 'a whole generation' may have been lost.
The epicentre was close to the city of Muzaffarabad, north of the city of Islamabad.
Many UK cities, such as Luton, Nottingham and Bradford have also been badly affected as many of the Pakistani population have family in the Kashmir region.
The DISASTERS EMERGENCY COMMITTEE appeal is once again in operation
0870 60 60 900
The number to ring to donate money.
The BBC NEWS site has a range of pages which will form the basis for further investigation and information.
Their IN DEPTH page is a useful page for all the most up to date information.
RESOURCES
This is something which students should be aware of, far beyond its role as a case study which shows the effects of an earthquake on an LEDC area.
The GA and RGS-IBG have materials available, and were up there fairly quickly.
TONY CASSIDY has some newly produced resources at his site, which is a GEOGRAPHY WORLD. Do a search.
The death toll has steadily risen, and as of the middle of October was standing at close to 87 000, with perhaps 2 million people homeless, and winter approaching. Some aid agencies are suggesting that the situation is worse than after the tsunami. The toll rapidly reached well over 100 000 over the winter.
There has also been some criticism at the lack of helicopters that have been provided by MEDCs - these are perhaps the most important resources. The weather conditions are an issue though - many helicopters have been grounded.
Buildings made from mud and stone construction, so they were easily damaged.
10 000 schools were destroyed by the earthquake.