QUETTA, 3 December 2008 (IRIN) - Azeem Khan, 30, has decided to move his family some 100km from Ziarat - badly damaged by the 29 October earthquake - to Quetta, capital of the Balochistan Province, southwestern Pakistan.

"The temperatures there [in Ziarat] are now well below zero. Two nights ago, it was about minus five or six degrees centigrade. We still have no winterised tent and our home is too unsafe to sleep in", Khan, a fruit farmer, told IRIN in Quetta.

He is especially worried about his wife, who has been sick for several days. The family intends to move in, for the moment, with relatives, though Khan said he had to go back to tend his orchards.

The 6.4 magnitude quake has been followed by a spate of aftershocks, which are adding to a sense of unease in Ziarat, with people reluctant to move indoors, even when their houses have suffered only slight damage.

"The roof of our bedroom has big cracks. So we are scared to sleep there," said Kulsoom Bibi, 50, whose family has been sleeping outdoors in their courtyard since the quake.

Retired Gen Farooq Ahmed Khan, the chairman of the NDMA, was "satisfied" by the relief effort, which he said had "gone well", but he was concerned about the continuing shortage of winterised tents or shelters.

Some 3,100 such tents and about 300 shelters (consisting of corrugated iron sheets to set up a single room) have been distributed. Gen Farooq told IRIN the shelters "offered much better protection from cold and wind than tents and can house 10-12 people each".

The NDMA chief, who recently visited the quake area, said: "So far only Turkey has provided 120 pre-fab houses. Other international agencies haven't delivered any as yet".

Over 8,000 winterised tents have been promised as well as an equal number of shelters, but none have yet been delivered to NDMA for distribution. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has said it would provide 4,000 tents.

The lack of shelter is also the key concern of local people. "We really need to be warm. Otherwise we will get sick," said Zeenat Bibi, 40, from a village near Ziarat whose family has made do with a flimsy canvas covering since the quake struck.

While 4,805 sleeping bags and over 100,000 blankets have been distributed, they still offer only limited protection. "Icy winds have been blowing in Ziarat as they always do at this time of the year. Our warm clothes are inside the rubble of our homes," said Mohammad Dilawar, 30.

The mayor of Ziarat, Dilawar Kakar, has also called for the urgent provision of shelter to quake victims.

No outbreaks of disease

However, there is good news, too. The initial warnings of a spread of disease through the quake-affected areas have proved largely unfounded.

The UN World Health Organization, which initiated a Disease Early Warning System soon after the quake, and has been monitoring the situation in Pishin and Ziarat, has noted that acute respiratory infections are responsible for nearly 50 percent of medical consultations in the area - no higher than in the "peak season" in previous years.

Adequate supplies of food also seem to have reached victims, with families saying "we suffered no shortages after the earliest days."

However, post-quake water shortages have added to the difficulties of people in an area where fruit growing is a key means of livelihood. "The water channel from a nearby stream that I used for watering my apple trees is useless as the stream is [now] dry," said Azeem Khan.

Earthquake's immediate impact

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which is coordinating the relief effort, said 710 houses were completely destroyed, another 4,524 were badly damaged and over 4,600 suffered minor damage.

NDMA said 218 villages were affected and 7,000-10,000 people displaced, and has confirmed 163 deaths, although other estimates say the figure could be nearer 300.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has put the number of people rendered homeless at 10,000-15,000.

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