Nation marks 14th anniversary of 2005 earthquake

ISLAMABAD: The nation on Tuesday marked 14th anniversary of the devastating 2005 earthquake with a renewed pledge to become a more resilient country, transforming the disaster management bodies into vibrant and efficient responders in natural calamities and emergencies.

The day dawned with special prayers in mosques for victims of the October 8, 2005 quake, which had shaken parts of the country with 7.6 magnitude intensity on the Richter scale, especially in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

A large number of people including family members, relatives and friends have visited the graveyards in the quake-hit areas. Memorial ceremonies were held in schools, colleges, private as well as government institutions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu Kashmir, Islamabad and other cities of the country to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the deadly earthquake.

The tragedy had claimed lives of around 80,000 people, injured approximately 138,000 and rendered over 3.5 million homeless. According to official figures as many as 19,000 children had died, most of them in widespread collapses of school buildings, while the quake had affected more than 500,000 families and killed around 250,000 farm animals. Besides, it damaged more than 780,000 structures including 17,000 school buildings.

President Dr Arif Alvi, in his message, said the observance of National Resilience Day was an occasion to evaluate and reiterate commitment at making greater preparedness to face natural calamities and by showing resolve for disaster risk reduction.

He also urged all the federal and provincial stakeholders to create synergies to ensure disaster risk reduction, preparedness, mitigation, and rehabilitation. He paid tribute to the people of Pakistan who had exhibited courage, selflessness, spirit of sacrifice and resilience in the face of catastrophes.

Expressing his satisfaction, the President said that it was heartening to note that the national disaster management systems, led by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), were engaged in creating public awareness and multi-level capacity-building.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his message on the National Resilience Day, reiterated that the government would continue taking all possible measures for a disaster resilient Pakistan through more effective prevention, mitigation and preparedness.