South Asia Earthquake Support

Please see http://tahmenabokhari.blogspot.com/ for information on my earthquake relief project.

Sirens wailed in somber reminder, then the bustling streets of this Kashmiri city fell silent, as hundreds of people marked the first anniversary of the South Asia earthquake that killed 80,000 people.

Similar memorials were held throughout the country to remember those killed in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck at 8:52 a.m. a year ago, leaving more than 100,000 injured and 3.5 million homeless in northern Pakistan and disputed Kashmir, the region divided between India and Pakistan.

Associated Press

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush has urged the international community to give nearly $100 million to help victims of last year’s devastating South Asia earthquake.

Mr. Bush, the U.N. special envoy for the recovery effort, made the appeal at a news conference Friday to mark the first anniversary of the huge quake that struck Pakistan and India. More than 80,000 people were killed and more than three million left homeless by the quake.

Mr. Bush said many of the quake’s victims still lack access to such basic services as clean water, sanitation and housing.

The former U.S. president says the early recovery plan for quake-affected areas has received just two-thirds of the $255 million needed.

He said that although many people have returned home from makeshift tent camps, full-scale reconstruction and the full resumption of basic services will take years.

Voice of America

BBC provides a pictorial memorial on this anniversary of the quake.

An earthquake hit Indonesia on Saturday near the city of Yogyakarta on Java. The 6.3 magnitude quake caused devastation killing an estimated 5,400 people, injuring 20,000 and left 200,000 people homeless.

Aid has begun to flow into the region, but awareness of the quake seems low. BBC is providing some excellent coverage on its website.

Aid started flowing into the airport on Tuesday morning coming.

Agencies working in the region who can use your help.

• Mercy Corps is actively working to help. Go to www.mercycorps.org.
• The Red Cross and Red Crescent has issued an appeal for donations. Go to www.ifrc.org
• Plan International has issued a plea for funds. Go to www.plan-uk.org
• Save the Children has asked for Java donations. Go to savethechildren.org.uk
• Christian Aid is appealing for donations. Go to christian-aid.org
• Oxfam is working at the disaster site. Donations can be made at www.oxfam.org.uk

Yogyakarta before the quake

After the quake

Save the Children today announced that it has received a 1-year,
$500,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to address the
long-term recovery needs of families, with an emphasis on women and
children, affected by the October earthquake that struck Pakistan and
India. 

Newsday’s James Rupert opened the paper’s bureau in Islamabad, Pakistan, and has recently reported extensively on the South Asia earthquake.

Life among the ruins in Pakistan
Last month’s earthquake crushed Zarwali Khan’s clothes shop, so he has moved his business to the pile of concrete rubble that lines Bank Road. Each day, Khan spreads a frayed plastic sheet atop the waist-high debris pile and lays out his cheap nylon and cotton socks for the stream of people walking by. (Nov 25, 2005)

Pledges for Pakistan quake aid jump to $5.4B
Following a scolding by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, governments and international development banks more than doubled their promises of aid for Pakistan yesterday, six weeks after the massive earthquake here. (Nov 20, 2005

)

Reuters is reporting that the Pakistani government on Wednesday raised the official death toll from the devasting earthquake that hit the north of the country last month to 73,276 and said it could rise further.

Federal Relief Commissioner Major-General Farooq Ahmed Khan told a news conference the sharp rise in the toll from a figure of 57,600 given a day earlier could be related to concerted efforts to clear up debris since the October 8 disaster.

“Unfortunately the death toll has risen to 73,276 and the number of injured is over 69,000,” he said.

“There is a likelihood of a further increase.”

U.N. helicopters ferrying supplies to South Asia’s earthquake survivors will be grounded within a week and relief operations scaled back unless aid agencies receive more funding and donors make good on pledges worth millions of dollars, officials said yesterday.

The United Nations has received $70.6 million in cash and $46.4 million in pledges for earthquake relief. That adds up to 20 percent of the $550 million it says it needs for the next six months. A donors’ conference in Geneva this week drew an additional $580 million in pledges for victims of the Oct. 8 quake, but those funds were not earmarked for the U.N. appeal.

The world body is pressing donors to specify where that money is going. They also want those who already promised money to U.N. agencies to make good on their pledges immediately.

Read more about the funding shortfall

Pope Benedict XVI called on Sunday for more generous international aid for the victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake in South Asia, saying the needs had far outweighed the help offered so far. Read more about the Pope’s request

Open Silicon Valley provides a list ways to get involved. They provide information about how to raise awareness with government, media, corporations and community. Go there and find a way to help.

About 875 U.S. service members are flying missions and providing support to the area northeast of the capital of Islamabad. Winter is setting in to the region, and blankets, shelter, food, clean water and medical care are in short supply, officials in Pakistan said.

About 225 Soldiers have deployed with the 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to Muzaffarabad, the epicenter of the quake. The hospital has a surgical capability, and has 24 intensive-care-unit beds, 36 medical-surgical beds and 60 medium- to -minimal-care beds. A U.S. water-purification unit is also operational in the remains of the city.

About 125 engineers with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 are working to clear roads and set up shelters. The Defense Logistics Agency delivered 800 tents to the region, and another 1,000 are on the way, officials said.

A total of 24 Army and Navy helicopters are operating in the region, with nine more expected to begin operations soon. Weather is curtailing some flights, but military personnel are flying whenever and wherever possible, officials said.

Oct. 30 was a typical day, with the choppers flying 52 sorties, according to a news release from Pakistan. They airlifted more than 310,000 pounds of supplies and carried 583 passengers. They also evacuated 64 people.

More from American Forces Press Service

Doctors and health officials say that in the wake of the Oct. 8 earthquake, which killed 55,000 people, they are encountering something they have never seen before: hundreds of injured victims in remote areas in need of immediate evacuation and treatment.

“Normally, three weeks after an earthquake, people are generally dead or they’re O.K.,” said Rachel Lavy, the World Health Organization official coordinating medical relief. “But three weeks after this earthquake, we’re still having severe injuries come in, open fractures, horrific infections, gangrene, tetanus.”

More from the New York Times

I have pulled together a podcast feed for the South Asia Earthquake relief efforts.

If you have audio/video files you would like to include in the podcast please send them to me at
digitalpodcast[at]gmail[dot]com

Taking inspiration from the massive donations bloggers were able to collect for Katrina relief efforts, DesiPundit is calling for a BLOG QUAKE DAY on Wednesday, Oct 26, 2005.

Bloggers are requested to make a small post about the earthquake, and direct your readers to a suitable avenue for donating to the relief efforts.

Please add a post to your blog, small numbers multiplied by big numbers end up with bigger numbers. Every post makes a difference.