October 8, 2005 earthquake – a day remembered for many reasons

Rawalpindi:The earthquake on October 8 in 2005, considered as the worst ever disaster in the region in over a hundred years of history, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale started jolting the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi at around 08:52a.m. while it had almost turned upside down towns stretching right from Balakot to Battagram to Muzaffarabad in the northern part of the country and AJ&K.

The October 8 quake damaged almost the whole infrastructure in the affected areas mainly in Bagh, Rawlakot and Muzaffarabad in AJ&K and Balakot and Kaghan valley along with a number of other towns in the northern mountainous range of the country.

The horrible images of the earthquake on October 8, 2005 cannot be wiped out of the memory by millions as the quake had affected not less than 600000 families displacing well over 200000 families in the worst-hit areas while claiming at least 80000 lives. The disaster damaged hundreds of houses and buildings in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi as well.

The powerful earthquake wiped out a number of towns and villages completely from the face of the earth in the northern part of the country. The affected areas including the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi observed hundreds of aftershocks within days after October 8, 2005. Within just twenty days after the earthquake, the affected areas had witnessed over 1000 aftershocks with magnitudes of 4.0 and above on the Richter scale.

October 8, 2005, however, was a day that witnessed a tremendous show of devotion and humanity by the general public from all across the country though it had also exposed the government’s incapability of dealing with like disasters. The unfortunate event put a heavy burden on the hospitals from Rawalpindi to Jhelum to Sialkot and even up to Sargodha and the influx of victims reaching allied hospitals in town from the worst affected areas did not lower for nearly two months. Major surgeries including complex surgeries involving compound fractures (fractures with open wounds) and plastic surgeries performed at the allied hospitals in Rawalpindi were recorded above 2000.

The earthquake brought a significant change in the lives of millions of people in the affected areas while convincing 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 earthquake changed the public attitude in the region particularly on the subject of thinking more seriously while building a house.

The first to respond to the earthquake was obviously the general public as more than 300 relief camps were set up by individuals even on the same day, on October 8, 2005 particularly in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Those who had witnessed the October 8 quake say that such a show of devotion and humanity occurs rarely.