Earthquake Encounters
Pakistan: first-hand account of the earthquake
Raza Hamdani,
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 beautifulNeelam 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. As we were heading towards
Muzaffarabad , our driver suddenly spoke out: “I have no control, I feel as if the car is flying”. Rocks were rolling down the mountain towards us. At that point, there was a fork on the road and our driver hurtled down the other side and steered us under a large bridge. Rocks continued to fall on either side and there was an enormous cloak of dust. I thought of the 9/11 footage when smoke filled the air and people were running everywhere. There was a thick fog - it was as if the mountain was boiling. And then, silence, followed by a sense of euphoria that we were safe. We celebrated. We thought it was just the biggest landslide we had ever seen. We drove around trying to find our way to Muzaffarabad, but everywhere the roads were blocked. And then the second shock came. We thought the road was going to collapse and more rocks rolled down the hillside. Then people started to appear. They were bringing the injured, mostly children. One man was carrying a two-year-old girl. I thought of my own daughters at that point. Her head was bleeding and he was trying to stem the blood flow, but her eyes were rolling up into her skull. I asked him how he was, but he was totally incoherent. He said his father and wife were injured at home. I calmed him down and gave him some of the water we had with us. More people came. Nobody had food with them because it was Ramadan. Soon word spread that we had supplies and drivers started rushing over saying they had children and women who needed help. At dusk, we can break our fast. We told people that we could cook for them. The local police arrived quickly but we were the first with a makeshift relief camp. I have to mention my friends who took part in this: Zahid Masood, Mirza Rizwan, Malik Abdullah and Zahid Majeed. None of us had any idea about what had really happened. When I returned home to Lahore, there was huge relief. Everybody had heard about the earthquake and they knew that their husbands and sons were going to Muzaffarabad. That was the closest call I’ve had in my life.
Source: BBC
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 inAbbottabad . 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. I was in my lecture hall in the college. It came with such a force that many people fell down while running out of the single door of the hall that was open. I still remember the way all the plaster from the ceiling was falling down over our heads. The moment I came out of the compound I started calling my home to check if they were fine. I just couldn’t get through the line. The earthquake was still there but I was desperately calling my family. I was so much concerned about them because we live in a three storey apartment building. My Mom and Sister were alone at home. My Mother has arthritis. She can’t even walk fast and how could she be running out of house. I feared she might have fallen down or somehting bad may happen to her. I could think of nothing but blood and strechers. My uncle was in a house made of mud and bricks but no conrete. I also tried to contact him but all the phone lines were jammed. I called my father who is a school principal but I just could’nt get through. The college arranged the bus for dayscholars to go home immediately. The earthquake was still there. While on my way back home, I got call from my sister. I was so relieved. We were so desperate that we were just asking questions. I was asking about everyone home and she was asking I were fine. After this I was much much relieved. That day there were so many after shocks. We have spent 3 nights out of our house in a ground nearby. Many people from our apartments left for Punjab. But for us everything was Abbottabad. How could we have left it behind in such a state? The first night was terrible. We slept in cars cause it was raining heavily with hail storm. I just can’t count how many aftershock we experienced that night. But we had blankets and all stuff. What about those who lost their homes or were trapped in the rubble. Whenever I think about it a Chill goes done my spine. We only went to our homes for using washroom or for fetching things we needed outside. While doing this we always left the doors wide open so that if there is any quake we could run out immediately. I am a medical student in 4th Year. My college has a teaching hospital attached with it. Since Abbottabad is the most advanced town in this district and also our Hospital is a tertiary hospital so all the load is on us. We have super saturated hospital with overworked doctors. We need a lot of supplies for Orthopedic surgery which are short in Abbottabad and also in Islamabad. Anyone interested in providing medical supply especially orthopedic surgery supply should visit: www.amcrelief.com Thanks for all you support and help. I will give you updates regularly. Currently I am working as a volunteer in the Disaster Management Cell in our College/Hospital. I am in the Co-ordination department. Keep up with Geo Tv Pakistan. They are giving good updates. Once again thanx for all the concern and support.
Source: Rewaj.com
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.