http://www.pakquake.com Covering the earthquake, the damage and the relief work in Pakistan. Wed, 23 May 2007 20:03:55 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf presided on Monday over a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of a new town to replace one almost completely destroyed in a 2005 earthquake. The northern town of Balakot suffered the most severe damage in the Oct. 8, 2005, earthquake that killed 73,000 people in ... http://www.pakquake.com/foundation-layed-for-new-balakot.html The Muzaffarabad Municipal Corporation has initiated a project to demolish around 2,000 precarious private buildings in the quake-hit city. “From today, we have kick-started the project, which, in fact lays, the basis of reconstruction in this town,” said the corporation’s Administrator Arshad Mahmood Abbasi at a news conference here on Saturday. The ... http://www.pakquake.com/2000-muzaffarabad-buildings-to-be-razed.html Survivors of the Oct 2005 earthquake in Balakot are facing extreme hardships due to the freezing temperature in the area. They are living through the hardest days and looking for a miracle to end their miseries, said journalist Shahjehan Khan, who still lives in a damaged tent in the town. The ... http://www.pakquake.com/quake-hit-people-desperate-for-shelters-medicines.html The NWFP government has made a plan to rehabilitate health infrastructure in the quake-hit districts and to offer special salary packages to health professionals posted there. Speaking at a workshop on ‘District health planning and advocacy,’ at the Khyber Medical College (KMC) on Wednesday, Health Secretary Abdul Samad Khan said that ... http://www.pakquake.com/special-packages-for-doctors-in-quake-areas.html Belgium is considering allowing Pakistan to swap its 60 million euro debt to the European country with aid for reconstruction work in the earthquake-affected areas, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht told reporters on Wednesday. “My country will consider seriously to write off the loan of 60 million euros,” Mr De ... http://www.pakquake.com/belgium-considering-swap-of-60m-euro-debt-with-quake-aid.html Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla met survivors of last year’s devastating earthquake during a visit to the mountains of Azad Kashmir on Wednesday. The couple, on their first trip to Pakistan amid tight security, toured reconstruction projects in Pattika, a small town in the Neelam Valley near the epicentre ... http://www.pakquake.com/prince-charles-and-camilla-parker-visits-earthquake-affected-areas.html The United States will train 30,000 teachers and build 50 schools in quake affected areas of Pakistan, the U.S ambassador said on Sunday, the first anniversary of an earthquake that killed 73,000 people. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker made the announcement during the inauguration by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of the first ... http://www.pakquake.com/us-to-train-30000-teachers-in-pakistani-quake-areas.html Hundreds of survivors of last year’s earthquake in Pakistan staged an anti-graft protest in the capital on Saturday, accusing reconstruction officials of corruption. Waving placards reading “Stop taking bribes”, “Spend the winter with us” and “Build our homes before snowfall”, the demonstrators marched from parliament to the office of the ... http://www.pakquake.com/quake-survivors-stage-anti-graft-protest.html The United Nations is seeking $45 million for winter operations, including helicopters to help out the affected of the last year’s earthquake in Pakistan. So far, about two-thirds of that sum has been made available, said a UN press release issued on Saturday, a day ahead of the anniversary of ... http://www.pakquake.com/un-seeking-45m-for-winter-operations.html A year after last October’s massive South Asian earthquake, aid agencies are warning that nearly two-million people are facing a second Himalayan winter without proper shelter. VOA’s Benjamin Sand revisits one of the communities hit hardest by the October 8, 2005 quake and files this report on the disaster’s devastating ... http://www.pakquake.com/one-year-later-earthquake-survivors-still-lack-proper-shelter.html