October 8, 2005 — a day that cannot be wiped off the memory

Rawalpindi
It is hardly possible for those who witnessed October 8, 2005 in their senses to forget the day that brought with it the worst-ever disaster in the northern region of the country killing over 73,000 people and leaving not less than 128,000 people injured.
The earthquake on October 8, 2005 affected over 200,000 families in the areas stretching from Islamabad to Balakot to Battagram to Muzaffarabad in the northern part of the country and AJK through a violent shaking of the earth’s surface and aftershocks that were felt for over two months after the earthquake.
It was Saturday when the earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale jolted the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi along with Balakot, Battagram, Muzaffarabad and a number of adjoining areas at around 8:52 a.m. causing a huge damage to the population in the region.
The powerful earthquake wiped out a number of towns and villages completely from the face of the earth in northern part of the country. The population in the affected areas including the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi observed hundreds of aftershocks within days after October 8, 2005. Within twenty days after the earthquake, the affected areas had witnessed over 1000 aftershocks with magnitude of 4.0 and above on the Richter scale.
The October 8 earthquake that is considered as the worst ever disaster in the region over a hundred years of history damaged over 600000 houses in the affected areas collapsing almost whole infrastructure in Bagh, Rawlakot and Muzaffarabad in AJK and Balakot and Kaghan valley along with a number of other towns in the northern mountainous range of the country.
The day, however, witnessed a tremendous show of devotion and humanity by public from all across the country yet it also exposed the government’s incapability of dealing with like disasters.
It was general public that first responded to the emergency on October 8, 2005 all across the country as countless relief camps were set up by individuals even on the same day particularly in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The earthquake not only brought a significant change in the lives of millions of people in the affected areas but also convinced the concerned government authorities to devise policies to minimise losses in case of like disasters in future. The rehabilitation in one or the other way is still in process in the affected areas.
The existing health infrastructure at the time of earthquake proved to be a failure in dealing with such a bigger emergency, however, after the earthquake, the health department took serious measures to implement disaster management plans in all teaching hospitals enabling almost every hospital to deal with over 250 emergency cases in case of a disaster as they claim.
Once again, it was public that donated much to the hospitals for facilitating earthquake victims. It is important that on October 8, 2005, the hospitals from Rawalpindi to Jhelum to Sialkot and even up to Sargodha received a huge burden of critically injured victims.
Just within 24 hours after the earthquake, well over 700 earthquake victims have landed at the allied hospitals in town, including Benazir Bhutto Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital and Holy Family Hospital.
Over 5,500 earthquake victims were admitted to the allied hospitals and almost the same number of victims reached in other healthcare facilities and hospitals of the twin cities most of which were in need of surgical procedures. Over 2,000 major surgeries including complex surgeries involving compound fractures (fractures with open wounds) and plastic surgeries were performed at the three teaching hospitals in town.
The allied hospitals in town provided treatment to majority of earthquake victims with the help of donations from public and NGOs. It was general public and NGOs that donated manpower -– doctors, staff nurses, physiotherapists and psycho-sociologists – to rehabilitation equipment, medicines and kitchen services to the hospitals.
The allied hospitals had to use verandas to keep victims due to shortage of space and distribution of meals and various types of foods donated by general public for victims and their attendants in the hospitals was a common scene for more than a month after the earthquake.
The BBH received a total donation amounting to Rs17.5 million rupees, of which approximate cost used for medicines was Rs14.25 million while Rs1.79 million were utilized by the hospital on provision of kitchen services to earthquake victims and their attendants. According to audit report, till four months after the quake, it was NGOs that were paying rupees 140000 per month to one coordinator, four doctors, three staff nurses and three ward servants working at the only Paraplegic Care Center in town developed by the DHQ hospital in the aftermath of October 8 earthquake.