Situation under control in quake-hit north

While relief efforts to assist those affected by last weekend's earthquake in northern Pakistan continue, the government maintains there is no need for international assistance at the moment.

"The situation is under control," Jehangir Khan, the government joint secretary responsible for the northern areas, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday. "Although the brunt of the relief operation is over, we will continue to evacuate people from the affected area as long as necessary."

Eleven people were killed and some 40 injured when a series of three moderate earthquakes rocked the remote region near the northern city of Gilgit. The largest jolt, measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, was timed by the United States Geological Survey as having taken place at around 06:30 local time on Saturday.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the epicentre of all three was 300 km northeast of the northwestern city of Peshawar. Since the last quake on Sunday afternoon, the affected area has experienced tremors every two to three hours.

Commenting on the current seismic activity in the area, Dr Qamar Chaudhary, the director-general of the meteorology department in Islamabad, noted that during the last 12 hours there had been two aftershocks. "It is difficult to predict, but the trends indicate the seismic activity is settling," he told IRIN on Wednesday.

Four villages about 60 km southeast of Gilgit, these being Muthat, Tato, Raikot and Jail, as well as a number of hamlets along a 20 km stretch of mountainous terrain, were affected. While the full scale of the damage remains unclear pending a full assessment, some 261 homes were totally destroyed, and 265 were partially damaged, Khan said.

In an effort to better determine the needs of those involved in the quake, he noted that the Aga Khan Foundation had a trained assessment team on the ground, and that four or five other NGOs were due to send separate teams into the affected area as well.

However, according to the official, civil and military officials are fully engaged in the operation and there are sufficient people to deal with the disaster. "As of yesterday [Tuesday], we cannot reach the sites by foot, but have succeeded in evacuating 1,300 people by helicopter to safer locations," he said. "This is a hilly area, where the population is scattered, hampering our relief effort to some degree."

Muhammad Ilyas Khan, the director-general of the government's emergency relief cell, said that in addition to the assistance sent already, the government had on Monday dispatched nine trucks from the Islamabad, carrying 400 tents, 3,000 blankets and an ample supply of winter clothing for those affected. In addition to the local effort under way, eight mt of food had also been sent from Islamabad, he told IRIN.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, helicopters were still being used to ferry the displaced to a temporary government-established camp at Gunar Farms, a small town 30 km north of Chilas. "Shelter, electricity, water and medical teams are now in place," Khan said. "The people are being looked after."

Describing their displacement as the greatest challenge ahead, he observed that those housed in the camp would be unable to return to their homes during the winter because of snow. "We will have to house them for at least five months," he said, noting that tents were being provided, but additional shelter needs would be addressed as they arose.

Regarding access to the affected areas, he said all roads into the area had been totally destroyed, adding that even access by foot was proving difficult as tremors still occurred periodically. Moreover, the road from the capital to Gilgit had been temporarily closed after a three-kilometre stretch of the Karakoram highway 40 km northwest of Chilas in the vicinity of Tata Pani had been blocked by landslides and boulders resulting from the earthquake. "It's been cleared as of Wednesday," Khan said.