Relief effort underway following northern quake

Rescue efforts continued on Monday after an earthquake killed at least 10 people and injured dozens more this weekend in remote northern Pakistan.

"As we are still assessing the situation, the casualty figure remains unclear," Muhammad Ilyas Khan, the director-general of the government's emergency relief cell, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. "Once we are able to fully assess the situation, we expect that number to rise."

Measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, the quake, which struck in the early hours of Saturday, devastated 250 homes, impacting [on] some 3,000 people, he explained.

According to the official, the worst affected-areas were the villages of Raikot Muthat, Jail, and Tato in the remote Diamer district, about 120 km north of Gilgit. "This is a mountainous rural area, so access is a problem," he said. Although some assistance was being provided, many people remained outside without shelter. "Immediate relief is being provided by the civil administration and army," he explained, adding, however, there still remained an urgent need for tents, blankets, warm clothing and food.

Describing the earthquake as "moderate", Dr Qamar Chaudhary, the director-general of Pakistan's Meteorology Department in Islamabad, told IRIN the area had already received 35 aftershocks since Saturday - three of them prominent - ranging from 4.7 and 5.0 on the Richter scale. "Although it was localised, an area of 30 to 40 [sq] km was badly affected," Chaudhary said, noting that the depth of the epicentre was shallow at 32 km. "The aftershocks are now decreasing in number," he said.

Although the affected area was within an earthquake-zone, the last major quake to strike this part of northern Pakistan was in December 1974. That quake, measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, tore through Patan in the vicinity of the Swat valley, about 70 km southwest of Gilgit. "Some 5,300 people were killed and 97,000 people were affected," Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, an official of the Agha Khan Development Network (AKDN), which has a strong presence in the area, told IRIN that the international NGO was on the ground and ready to assist. "We are working with the government to provide all the necessary support they require," he said.

AKDN had already dispatched a rescue team to the area over the weekend, followed by a disaster relief team on Monday, he noted, adding that on Sunday AKDN had provided the army with blankets and tents for distribution. "As some sections of the Karakoram highway had been closed because of the quake, helicopters remain the main source of transport into the affected area," the official said.

According to local media, as a result of landslides, large boulders had blocked some parts of the road while damaging others.

The all-weather Karakoram highway stretches some 900 km from Islamabad, through the Karakoram mountains into China. Completed in 1982, this incredible feat of engineering cuts its way through deep valleys and desert plains into the mountains of the north, providing a vital lifeline between the districts of Chitral, Gilgit and Balistan, with the major Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore.