Earth-Shattering
Lessons
Pakistan seems to lurch from one crisis
to another. Most of the crises have
been man-made and sadly this one from
the Almighty is equivalently mighty.
Seismologists have known that tectonic
plates in the Himalayas would shift
and have warned of massive earthquakes,
wreaking even greater destruction than
this latest one in Pakistan that hit
7.6 on the Richter scale. Geologists
report the movement of the Indian subcontinent
northward at the rate of five centimeters
a year. The actual earthquake occurs
when energy stored along geological
faults like the Himalayan one, is suddenly
released.
The spine-chilling prediction is that
earthquakes could kill a million in
the Ganges plain.
Hurricane Katrina was accurately predicted
landfall and all. The devastation it
wrought was due mainly to the breakage
of the levees, as well as the tardy
government response. Earthquakes do
not lend themselves to accurate prediction,
making them even more sinister and deadly.
Pre-Katrina those with the means left
Louisiana and Mississippi. The carnage
post-Katrina is incredible even now.
It managed to expose America’s
underclass and the whole nation stands
ashamed.
Thousands were camped in the Super Dome
in New Orleans and the Astrodome in
Houston, and many spent three whole
days without food and water. President
Bush initially toured the area in a
helicopter, not himself making landfall,
and it took a week for the head of FEMA
to resign.
Margala Towers in Islamabad crumpled
to a heap much like the World Trade
Center had on 9/11. To his immense credit,
President Musharraf accompanied by Prime
Minister Shaukat Aziz was there within
a few hours of the earthquake. For having
grabbed power and for hanging on to
it tenaciously and with dubious legality,
Musharraf is not on my list of favorite
people. Journalistic integrity forces
me however, to give the credit where
it is indeed due. It was truly intrepid
of him to climb over the rubble and
inspect rescue efforts. Especially since
the ground below wavered in the form
of several aftershocks.
Pakistan and especially its government
could never be acclaimed for high efficiency.
And thus I am forced to deduce that
Musharraf learned from Bush’s
inappropriate response in the face of
Katrina. And the national browbeating
that Bush received, deservedly well
orchestrated by the media.
And sadly the contrasts worsen. Bush
heads the world’s sole superpower;
Musharraf is president of one of the
poorest nations on earth. While the
American people take news of the death
of a loved one stoically, with a few
sniffs into a handkerchief, and Pakistanis
wail unabashedly, America’s is
a blame-oriented society. Apportioning
blame, however, can be important for
future improvement and is also representative
of a society where legal recourse exists.
Katrina brought a super-power to its
knees. How can a country with an unchecked
population, substandard infrastructure,
wealth conglomerated in the elite five
percent, rampant corruption and absent
disaster preparedness, ever cope with
this devastating quake?
Saif Hussain, President-elect Structural
Engineers Association of Southern California
says: “Most Pakistanis may not
even be aware of the high seismic hazard
that exists in most of the country.
I grew up in Karachi never realizing
that the seismic hazard exposure of
that region is almost as great as that
of Los Angeles! In fact the Uniform
Building Code (UBC) designates Karachi
as Seismic Zone 4, the maximum seismic
zonation level and the same as Los Angeles.
Most of the western and northern parts
of Pakistan are at an equal or somewhat
higher seismic hazard level.”
Apparently the earthquake engineering
field has undergone great advancements,
led by the United States and Japan.
India seems to have made great strides
as well, but the rest of the world has
lagged behind. What Hussain said next
broke my heart: “A few months
ago I contacted the director of an international
nonprofit organization, headquartered
in California that works in the area
of earthquake hazard mitigation in Third
World countries which contain zones
of high seismicity. He informed me that
they had successful programs running
in almost every country they had approached,
except for Pakistan where bureaucratic
obstacles had made progress impossible,
despite the availability of international
funding sources.”
As I write this the toll from the earthquake
has risen from 18,000 to 25,000. Entire
villages seem to have been consumed.
One victim beneath the debris was communicating
by cell phone, and said his family was
with him, all awaiting rescue, another
had to have his legs cut off to be saved.
The government is being very generous
in its offers of aid to victims, promising
Rs. 50,000 each. A billion rupees have
been put in the Presidential fund and
most news reports portray a rapid and
all-out government response. The inaccessibility
of the northern areas has undoubtedly
resulted in help not reaching there.
What I fear is that the initial enthusiasm
will die down and so will the rehabilitation
of the thousands left shattered by this
bolt from the blue. How will a country
that is unable to feed its people, provide
potable water, exercise population control,
secure a safe environment, educate to
basic literacy and lower its high unemployment
rate cope with a disaster of this magnitude?
President Musharraf was not just courageous
in visiting the collapsed Margala Towers,
he was philosophically articulate as
well. It is “a test for me, my
Prime Minister and indeed the people
of Pakistan,” he said. The Qur’an
promises punishment for transgressions,
and tests to catalyze spiritual elevation.
Only God in His infinite wisdom could
know where this calamity would be classified.
It may be a test for some and a punishment
for others. Semantics such as this must
be set aside, though, and as a nation
we must be jolted awake so as to look
beyond petty personal gain. When will
our patriotism graduate from passionate
rendition of nationalistic songs to
truly putting state before self?
We ought to take stock of our deficiencies
which seem innumerable, and our assets
which appear paltry and develop a cogent
plan of action for the national good.
In Al-Baqara, 2:286, God says: “On
no soul does God place a burden greater
than it can bear”. Individuals
go through the cycle of denial, anger,
bargaining, depression and finally acceptance.
As a nation this must be a point for
pause for Pakistan. Assess, redress
and prepare; never forgetting that the
one that seismologists say shall claim
a million, is yet to come.
(Mahjabeen Islam is a freelance columnist
and physician. She lives in Toledo,
Ohio. Her email address is mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com)
