2005 Kashmir earthquake

On October 8, 2005 at 8:50:38 local time ( 03:50:38 UTC), there was an earthquake in Kashmir. The epicenter was in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir region Asad near the regional capital Muzaffarabad ( coordinates 34 ° 25 ' 55 "N, 73 ° 32' 13" O34.43194473.536944 ).

In the region, the Indian plate moves at a speed of about 8 cm / year on the Asian mainland. In millions of years, so the Hindu Kush mountain range has piled up. The affected region is located about 95 kilometers northeast of Islamabad. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km below the earth's surface. The confirmed by the government number of earthquake victims in Pakistan rose to 84,000 now. In addition, 1,300 deaths in India.

The quake caused damage in northern Pakistan, Afghanistan and North India. Numerous villages were literally razed to the ground, it said in eyewitness accounts. The American Authority United States Geological Survey gave the strength at 7.6 and the Japanese Meteorological Agency was 7.8 on the Richter scale, which roughly corresponds to the intensity of the earthquake in San Francisco in 1906. It is considered the most difficult in the ravaged by numerous earthquakes South Asian region for 100 years. The quake has opened a 100 -km-long break where all the buildings have been destroyed along practical.

International reactions

Many states, international organizations and non-governmental organizations in the region offered assistance in the form of money, food, medical supplies, tents and blankets to. Similarly rescue and recovery workers were sent from different parts of the world to the region; they brought with them, among other things helicopters and rescue dogs. The United Nations had called for fundraising to raise at least U.S. $ 272 million for the people of the region.

One of the biggest supporters of direct counting Cuba, which sent according to a Spiegel report dated December 8, 2005 789 doctors in the region and thus even the number of Pakistani doctors (about 500 ) exceeded. Already on October 14, landed the first Cuban doctors in Islamabad. The Cuban doctors were the only ones who dared to high in the extremely difficult terrain in the mountains. They were also more than all the others had gone again. In four months, she served various sources, 300,000 or 600,000 patients. Thanks to them, there were no epidemics and no massively increased mortality due to lack of drinking water or medical care. President General Musharraf thanked several times to the Cuban government.