Earthquake Encounters
Pakistan: first-hand account of the earthquake
Raza Hamdani,
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People were still sound asleep when suddenly they were jolted awake. At once floods of people began streaming from houses and apartment blocks, confused and staggering as repeated quakes of 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked the earth. It was Saturday, just before 9 a.m. By the time people came to their senses, the phone network was either down or jammed.
Escape from the epicentre
When it happened, I had no idea how close I was and how much of a disaster it would turn out to be.
We had planned this trekking trip around the beautiful
Neelam Valley for ages.My friends and I were travelling during Ramadan so we carried our own food and water. We were loaded up with gas, rice, lentils, water – only later did I realise how lucky this was.
We left our night stop nine minutes late. I think now that delay could have saved our lives.
The day the earth shook
“SAVE me, Abbu, Ammi. Please help me come out.” As long as I am alive, these painful words uttered by Umair Maqbool, the brilliant 18-year-old son of my maternal uncle, will continue to haunt me. Umair was shouting from beneath the huge concrete mass of his house that had collapsed moments after the earthquake struck
Umair was not alone; his elder brother Junaid was also trapped in an adjacent room. On top of the rubble were my uncle and aunt, who were shouting for help which was nowhere in sight. With a small pickaxe, the couple started to dig.
From Abbottabad
Yes I do live in
Abbottabad . Its my home town.I shall never forget the moments of earthquake. The way we were frightened and running out of houses and schools, colleges. It was like the world is going to end for us.
Earthquake rocks Islamabad
Today, the nation of Pakistan came face to face with both its most shocking day in history as well as one of its biggest challenges yet. Earlier this morning around 9 am, the northern regions were violently shook by a 7.6 magnitude earthquake. Thousands were killed across the continent from either mudslides or building collapse, and the death toll which is expected to rise significantly, already stands at 20,000.