Earthquake: Food supplies and tents reach Awaran

More than 400 people are reportedly injured.

AWARAN: Over 700 tents and 500 food packages were sent to Awaran, one of the earthquake stricken towns of Balochistan by the provincial disaster management authority on Wednesday.

"The food supplies, however are far from being enough," reported Aslam Khan, Bureau Chief Express News.

More than 328 people have died and hundreds of others have been injured because of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Balochistan on September 24, Express News reported on Wednesday.

Around 208 people died in the Awaran district alone. It is feared that the death toll will continue to rise as many people are reportedly trapped under rubble.

The food supplies that took 25 hours to reach to Awaran are now expected to be distributed tomorrow. According to reports, the security situation prevalent in the town is proving to be hindrance in the distribution of necessities to the affected people.

Army troops have also been deployed, reported Khan.

Awaran which is a sparsely populated town of 150,000 people has come to a standstill since the earthquake which has claimed over 350 lives in the province.

Amongst other issues faced by the city, dearth of water and lack of shelter is proving to be the most unsettling issue to the people.

"People are afraid to sleep in their houses because of the fear that the roofs might collapse," said Khan, adding that the heat during the day became unbearable.

"In Mashkhel, tents and food supplies haven't even reached yet," said Khan.

Affected areas

"A total of six districts -- Awaran, Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Chaghi and Khuzdar -- and a population of over 300,000 have been affected by the earthquake," said Jan Muhammad Buledi, spokesman for the Balochistan government.

The head of the provincial disaster management agency, Abdul Latif Kakar, said that 30 people had died in Kech district, a toll confirmed by a senior local official.

10 children were taken out alive from the rubble of a collapsed madrassa in the Awaran district of Balochistan while 15 children were found dead.

It was reported earlier that at least 33 bodies were found in Mashkay and 173 bodies were found in Awaran.

Abdul Rasheed Baloch, a senior official in Awaran said "around 90 percent of the houses in the district have been destroyed. Almost all the mud houses have collapsed."

Some of the dead have already been laid to rest in their villages, he added.

Many people in the affected areas do not have access to food, drinking water or tents. This situation is worsened by the extremely hot climate and the closure or destruction of utility stores.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………



………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………



………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Relief work

One thousand army personnel from Quetta and Khazdar have reached the affected areas and started relief work, according to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Army units from Karachi are also headed to these areas to provide aid.

People in other areas removed rubble from their shattered houses themselves to rescue those buried in the wreckage.

The former chairman of Bahria Town, Malik Riaz said that each of the affected families will be given Rs200,000 to help them.

Buledi said teams were working to recover bodies, but the priority was to move the injured to hospitals as soon as possible -- a difficult task in a desolate area with minimal infrastructure.

"We are seriously lacking medical facilities and there is no space to treat injured people in the local hospitals," he said.

"We are trying to shift seriously injured people to Karachi through helicopters and others to the neighbouring districts."

Seventeen of the injured have already been taken to Karachi for treatment.

Rasheed Baluch said teams had worked through the night to try to retrieve bodies and survivors from the rubble.

Meanwhile, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake hit the Shangla area of Malakand. The epicentre of this earthquake is Hindukush and it is 163km deep.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Background

Tremors and aftershocks of the quake were felt as far afield as the Indian capital of New Delhi and the Gulf states of Oman and the UAE. The US Geological Survey (USGS) had issued a red alert, warning that heavy casualties were likely based on past data.

The government ordered a massive rescue operation. Army and civil rescuers were sent to the affected region to pull out casualties as residents said dozens of people are trapped under the rubble of their collapsed houses.

According to the USGS, the epicentre was 23 kilometres below the ground in Awaran district. It was so powerful that it caused the seabed to rise and create a small, mountain-like island off Gwadar coast in the Arabian Sea. In 2005, a 7.6-magnitude quake centred in Azad Kashmir had caused widespread damage, killing at least 80,000 people and leaving millions shelter-less in one of the worst natural disasters to hit Pakistan.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Tuesday’s quake hit Quetta, Chagai, Dalbandin, Naushki, Panjgur, Turbat, Gwadar, Pasni, Ormara, Mastung, Kalat, Sorab, Khuzdar, Sibi, Naseerabad, Jaffarabad, Lasbela, Taftan, Nokkundi and dozens of other cities and towns of the impoverished province.

Awaran district has an estimated population of around 300,000, scattered over an area of more than 21,000 square kilometres. “Over 50% of urban and around 90% of rural areas of the district have been ravaged by the quake,” Mir Quddus Bizenjo, the deputy speaker of Balochistan Assembly, had told reporters by phone. He had put the death toll at 150-plus in Awaran alone.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………



………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………



………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………