Earthquake Case Study - Cw

Ka shm ir Ear thq ua ke – 200 5

An a nal ysis of the e vent and its consequences Geography 12 IB By: Chrison Wong

Th e Ea rthquake  Location: Azad Kashmir – Pakistan controlled  Occurred at 8:50am local time on October 8, 2005  Magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale  Caused by the Indian Plate subducting under the Eurasian Plate

Hu man Factors 86,000+ dead 69,000+ injured Saturday is a school day in Pakistan – many children were buried under schools  Occurred during the month of Ramadan – most people were asleep after waking up for a pre-dawn meal   

Th e Af termath  $5.2 billion in damages  Many buildings collapsed immediately – they were built at minimal cost and could not withstand earthquakes  Landslides contaminated rivers, blocked roads and destroyed buildings which had survived the initial quake  Many communities built on mountain slopes were completely wiped out by landslides  More than 3 million people left homeless

Re sp onse  The Pakistan army was immediately sent to assess damages and help rescue survivors.  978 aftershocks with a magnitude >4.0 created dangerous situations for survivors and rescuers  Many roads were blocked by landslides, rendering many towns unreachable  Rescuers were poorly equipped and had to dig through rubble with bare hands  NATO delivered supplies 6 days after the earthquake  The first foreign medical team arrived 21 days after the earthquake  Heavy snowfall started 5 days after the earthquake, which hindered rescue attempts and threatened the lives of millions of people left with no shelter

Ka shmir Today  Aid money has “disappeared” due to corrupt officials – government compensation checks bounce  Tens of thousands of survivors are still homeless. They have endured multiple Himalayan winters in tent cities.  Annual demonstrations are held all over the region to protest the slow pace of rebuilding, lack of compensation, inadequate basic supplies and health services, and government corruption.

Works Cited         

Bloomberg. (2005). Pakistan, Indian Earthquake Survivors Face Threat From Winter. Bruce, Andrea. (2005). In Kashmir, After the quake, ‘Nothing’. CNN International. (2005). Millions homeless; storm slows aid. Elnashai, Amr & Willett, Donald. (2006). The Pakistan Earthquake of October 2005: A Reminder of Human-Science Interaction in Natural Disasters Risk Management. Naranjo, Laura. (2008). Mapping the Kashmir Earthquake. Peace Foundation. (2006). Gallery- Muzaffarabad after Earthquake. Philp, Catherine. (2005). Thousands at risk of starving in quake aid shortfall. Time. (2006). Earthquake Shakes Kashmir Photo Essay. United States Geological Survey. (2006). Earthquake Hazards Program – Magnitude 7.6 – Pakistan.