Case Studies - Kashmir, Pakistan

Question 1

Location:

Answer 1

• Kashmir, Pakistan which is a developing country
• Found on a destructive plate boundary between the Eurasian and Indian plate
• 7.6 Magnitude in area of Kashmir
• Epicentre struck 60km from capital Islamabad, depth of 26km below surface

Question 2

Primary Effects:

Answer 2

• Around 79k people were killed and 100k injured
• Cities like Balakot and Bagh and all small villages were razed to the ground.
• All roads were destroyed
• 291 hospitals were destroyed and only 199 were functioning
• over 3 mil homeless
• around 500k homes destroyed

Question 3

Secondary Effects:

Answer 3

• Large landslides buried people + building and cut off access to roads and cut off water and electricity/telephone lines
• Fires caused by fractured gas pipes
• Diseases such as cholera and typhoid spread quickly from dirty water and dead bodies
• After 1 year 100k people spent a second winter without permanent shelter so many die due to hypothermia

Question 4

Immediate Response:

Answer 4

• Help didn’t reach many areas for days/weeks and people had to rescued by hand
• Tents, blankets and medical supplies were distributed by Indian Red Cross within a month but not to all areas
• Military deployed helicopters

Question 5

Long Term Response:

Answer 5

• Around 40k people were relocated to new town
• Government money given to people whose house were destroyed to rebuild themselves
• Training has been provided to buildings are earthquake proof
• New health centres set up in area
• Building laws have been tightened on public buildings

Question 6

Preparation:

Answer 6

• No local disaster planning was in place
• Buildings were not designed to be earthquake resistant
• Communication was poor