where is Kashmir
north of Pakistan
what plate margin and which plates does Kashmir sit on
- destructive plate margin
- indian plate being forced under the Eurasian plate
when did the earthquake occur and what time
- 8th October 2005
- 8:50 am
what did the earthquake measure on the Richter scale
7.6
how deep was the focus of the earthquake and where was the epicentre
- 16 miles deep
- epicentre was close to Muzaffarabad
why did the earthquake occur
movement along the plate margin which caused a 75km crack in Earth’s surface to form
how far did the damage caused by the earthquake spread
30,000 km2, felt as far away as Kabul in Afghanistan and Delhi in India
how many aftershocks were there following the earthquake and how big were they
by 27th October 2005 had been 978 aftershocks measuring at least 4 on Richter scale
what were the economic impacts of the earthquake
- estimated that the earthquake cost around $5 billion in total
- whole villages and thousands of buildings were destroyed. e.g. 80% of town of Uri was destroyed
- total cost of rebuilding was $3.5 billion
what were the social impacts of the earthquake
- around 80,000 death, mainly caused by collapsed buildings
- 100,000s of people injured, including around 6000 in India
- 3 million people made homeless
- water pipelines and electricity lines were broken, cutting off supplies
- landslides buried buildings and people, also blocked roads and cut off water supplies, electricity supplies and telephone lines
- diarrhoea and other diseases spread due to little clean water
- freezing winter conditions shortly after earthquake caused more casualties and meant rescue and rebuilding operations were difficult
what were the environmental impacts of the earthquake
- landslides and rockfalls occurred throughout the region, most landslides relatively small but 2 major landslides - one in Muzaffarabad and one in Jhelum Valley
- Jhelum Valley landslide was biggest - over 1km wide and debris reached over 2km from top of slide, debris created a dam at bottom of valley that blocked two rivers where they joined
- as a result of earthquake and surface rupture, ground shifted by more than 5m in some areas of Kashmir
the response was delayed, but what were some of the first responses to the earthquake
- help didn’t reach many areas for days or weeks, people were rescued by hand with no equipment or help from emergency services
- tents, blankets and medical supplies distributed within a month but to to all areas affected
- international aid and equipment e.g. helicopters and rescue dogs were brought in as well as teams of people from other countries
what were some of the longer term resopnses
- Pakistani government set up Federal Relief Commission (FRC) and Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) to coordinate activities with other international agencies
- 40,000 people have been relocated to a new town from destroyed town of Balakot
- government money has been given to people whose homes had been destroyed so they can rebuild themselves
- training has been provided to help rebuild more buildings as earthquake resistant
- new health centres have been set up in the area
what was the management prior to the earthquake
no management:
- no local disaster planning in place
- buildings not designed to be earthquake resistant, houses were structurally poor as people couldn’t afford better buildings
- communications were poor, few roads and they were badly constructed
