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Pakistan-India quake 2005

Last reviewed: 30-09-2008

THE REGION'S MOST POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE IN A CENTURY


The earthquake that struck Kashmir and Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on Oct. 8, 2005 killed around 75,000 people and left up to 3.5 million homeless.

  • Pakistan's worst natural disaster
  • More than 16,000 children killed when schools collapsed
  • Militarised border complicated relief efforts

The 7.6 magnitude quake was centred near the heavily militarised frontier that separates Pakistan and India. Most of the destruction was on the Pakistani side.

Relief efforts faced numerous challenges, including getting supplies into a mountainous region where roads had been blocked by landslides and finding enough tents before the onset of the Himalayan winter. The only way to access many remote settlements was by helicopter.

The dead included thousands of children crushed to death after their schools collapsed on top of them.

Around 600,000 houses were destroyed or damaged in Pakistan. A year after the quake, many survivors were still living in temporary shelters.

Reconstruction is expected to take years.

India did not request international help.

KEY FACTS


PAKISTAN
Number killed 73,338 (Pakistan government)
Children killed in schools More than 16,000 (UN/ISDR)
Number injured 69,142 (Pakistan government)
Number left homeless More than 3 million (estimate)
INDIA
Number killed 1,309 (Jammu and Kashmir state government)
Number injured 6,000 approx (Jammu and Kashmir state government)
Number homeless 350,000 approx (Jammu and Kashmir state government)
AREAS AFFECTED
Pakistan Bagh, Muzaffarabad, Poonch (Kashmir), Abottabad, Battagram, Kohistan, Mansehra, Shangla (North West Frontier Province)
India Jammu and Kashmir

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Pakistani military spokesman Brigadier General Athar Abbas (C) briefs media representatives on a hilltop in Mingora, the main town in Pakistan's Swat valley June 3, 2009. Pakistani authorities are preparing for ...


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