By Dr. Nayyer Ali

The Earthquake

October 21 , 2005

Pakistan suffered the worst natural disaster in its history on October 8 as a major earthquake rocked Kashmir and killed tens of thousands. Up till now exact information on the death toll has been difficult to get, but could be well over 40,000. Several hundred thousand, perhaps two million, are without adequate shelter. Supplies of food, medicine, blankets, tents, and other essentials are trickling in, but the difficult terrain has hampered relief.
In the wake of this disaster, it is gratifying to see Pakistanis in Pakistan and abroad pull together to ease the human suffering. Fundraising has been brisk, and millions of dollars in aid are in motion. In the US, Pakistani and Muslim groups have mobilized, as have some Indian organizations, although Indian-held Kashmir was spared the widespread damage that took place in Pakistan.
Although most of the casualties were in Kashmir, and mostly in villages, a couple of apartment buildings collapsed in Islamabad. A lucky few were rescued from the rubble, but most died either instantly or from the effects of hours and days of having remained trapped in the fallen structures.
Compared to Hurricane Katrina, this was a huge blow that far outpaced New Orelans. Perhaps a thousand people died in Katrina, while 40,000 may have died in a few minutes in the earthquake. It actually is not accurate to say that this was the worst disaster in Pakistan’s history. The worst was in fact a hurricane, or what is called in the Indian Ocean a cyclone. On November 12, 1970, a tidal wave thirty feet high whipped up by a cyclone struck East Pakistan and washed out to sea an estimated 1 million people. The human mind cannot grasp such a calamity, with a toll that exceeds a nuclear detonation over a major city. The listless response of the Pakistani government, and the withdrawal of one of the two major Bengali political parties from the upcoming election, allowed Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League to win the 1970 vote, and set the stage for the dissolution of Pakistan.
What was once West Pakistan on the other hand is relatively tranquil from a natural disaster standpoint. The land is not usually the victim of major disasters other than river floods, and so this earthquake struck an unprepared population. The geology of South Asia is dominated by the ongoing collision of the Indian subcontinent with the Tibetan edge of Asia, a collision that began tens of millions of years ago. This impact has pushed up the land from being a shoreline and transformed it into the peaks of the Himalayas. They continue to rise at about two inches per century, but this mountain-building is not usually associated with major quakes.
It is an adage in disaster relief that earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do. The truth of that could be seen in the Loma Prieta quake near San Francisco in 1989, which was about the same size as the Kashmir quake. Only a few hundred people died in that quake, even though it occurred just nearby a huge population center. Modern building techniques and earthquake codes allow buildings to survive even very large quakes unscathed. The safest place to be in the next big quake in California is your own home or a large recently built skyscraper.
In Third World countries, the buildings are mostly un-reinforced masonry, which are cheap and sturdy, but collapse with even moderate shaking, crushing their inhabitants. Among the most tragic stories to come out of this disaster is that of the hundreds of schoolchildren who died together as their school buildings fell down.
So what is the long-term effect of this quake on Pakistan? For those who were killed or injured, or lost relatives or property, the quake will leave a permanent mark. But for Pakistan as a whole, it is not going to derail the economy or the society. The most ruthless calculators, investors in the stock market, actually pushed stock prices higher in the week after the quake. The value of the rupee remained stable, and when the government asked for formal Expression of Interest in the upcoming privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills, they were deluged with 17 applications, mostly from abroad.
While Pakistan as a nation can overcome this quake, for over two million people, the quake has caused tremendous hardships. Now is the time for all who care about Pakistan to generously donate what they can to ease the burden of the victims. Comments can reach me at Nali@socal.rr.com.

 



PREVIOUSLY

Deflating Japan

Bush’s Axis of Evil

Speaking to Non-Muslims

If Arafat Were Jinnah

The Shape of Things to Come

South Asia Expert Calls for Negotiations on Kashmir

Kashmir After the Cold War

Kashmir Quagmire: How It Started

Kashmir: Where We’ve Been

Make Way for the Euro

Will there Be a Muslim Palestine?

Careful, Careful

Our Growing Community

Pakistan’s Golden Opportunity

Musharraf’s Reform Plans

Pakistan’s Afghan Dilemma

Humanity on the Move

Strategies of America, Pakistan and Benazir

Winners and Losers

America’s Strategy Defang the Fundamentalists

The Noose Tightens

Pakistan in America

Musharraf’s Moment

A Sad Day for America, A Sad Day for Islam

Repeal the Blasphemy Law

Bush’s Stem Cell Compromise

The Depressing Stock Market

An Evening on Human Development

“Benazir” Takes Over in Indonesia

Race Riots in Britain

Global Warming or Just Hot Air?

Milosevic on Trial

Russia’s Collapse

Economic Recovery in Pakistan?

President Khatami’s Re-election

Lifting Sanctions on Pakistan

Israel’s Moral Burden

A Break in the Logjam?

The Second American Century

Pakistan’s Constitution

Dr. Lodhi in Los Angeles

Literacy: The Road Forward

Why Yusuf Can't Read

Literacy: The Glass is Half Full

Blowing Up Buddha

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Pakistan

Did You See the Moon?

Cornrows, Ali Khan, and Culture

Will the Children Go To Harvard?

Muslim Political Progress

Information Technology Gets A Boost

Sand and Oil

On Lieberman

Pakistan Builds A Tank

Kashmir in the Nuclear Age

Full Speed Ahead on Privatization

A Muslim France?

Too Much Food

Watching the Election Why Are We Hollywood’s Villains?

A Tyrant Falls

Taliban Victorious

The Walking Whale of Pakistan
The Joy of Air Travel?

The Amazing American Economy
Arafat and Jerusalem

Names For The Children

Population: Too Many or Too Few?

It Does Matter

Aziz Goes For Growth

The Military Government's First Budget

L'Affaire Salam

End Sanctions on Iraq

Third World Democracy

Light Weapons Trade on the Rise

Iran Reforms

Back to the Future

The Saudis and OPEC Mature

How Can We Help Pakistan Develop?

Report Card on Musharraf

IMF Vs Pakistan

A Candid Discussion on Foreign Policy Issues

A Sad Tale of Missed Opportunities

Cold War In Kashmir

Whither Afghanistan?

National Security and Literacy

Pakistan Votes

The People Win

What is an Islamist?

Selling the Crown Jewels

Still Not Government

One Year After the Taliban

Benazir's Folly

Iraq and Oil

Saddam and Iraq - I

Saddam and Iraq - 2

Muslim Democracy

Zakat and Capitalism

Zakat and Capitalism - 2

The Economy Picks Up

The American Military: Power without Limit?

Good Foreign Policy is Good Anti-Terrorism Policy

The Arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammad

Bush Takes a Gamble

Bush Attacks

Besieging Baghdad

Darkness in Saddam's Bunker

Piccadilly It Aint Qissa Khani Is Still Qissa Kahani

Ed Asner and Afghanistan's Progress

Bush Delivers a Roadmap

Liberation or Imperialism

The Roadmap

Economic Rebound

Musharraf in Los Angeles

Economic Growth will lead to Democracy

Trapped by Myths and Fantasies

The Surge in Karachi Stocks

Bush's Busted Budget

America's Broken Healthcare

Time to Buy Stocks?

Islam, the State, and Human Rights

30 Years after the Oil Shock

The Future of Oil Wealth

Pakistan, India and Human Development

Pakistan's Eid Present

Iraq, Democracy and Islam

The End of Saddam Hussein

Three Wins for Pakistan

The Islamabad Declaration

Kerry's Big Wins

Repeal Hudood and Blasphemy

Bush's Growing Vulnerability

What Has Aziz Done?

Bits and Pieces

The Growth of India

Chaos in Iraq

Bush Caves in to Sharon

Abuse at Abu Ghraib

Too Harsh, Musharraf

The BJP Loses

What Do the Jihadis Want?

The Pak Economy: Bigger than We Think

Is America Richer than Europe?

Prime Minister Aziz

Unbundling WAPDA

Musharraf's Uniform

Chess Game in Kashmir

Three States, Three Debates

What's Wrong with the Democrats?

Can Elections Bring Peace to Iraq?

Elections in Iraq

Can Generals Yield to Democrats?

IMF Give Pakistan an “A”

Improve Higher Education in Pakistan

A Framework for Reconciliation

Iraq’s Elections By

Privatizing Power

Bullish in Karachi

Palestinians Should Abandon Suicide Bombings

The F-16’s

Bush’s Social Security Plan

Growth and Investment

Patronage Versus Policy

Aziz, the PML, and 2007

Are We Running out of Oil?

Purchasing Power

Economic Progress

Social Progress

PTCL and the Privatization Roller-coaster

Bombing in Britain

The Ummah is Not a Tribe

Is the US Oppressing the Muslims?

Is Iraq Dissolving?

Sharon Retreats

Pakistan and Israel

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.