The earthquake which hit Pakistan and Kashmir on October 8 can be described as the greatest catastrophe to befall Pakistan Entire towns, including the capital of Azad Kashmir, turned into rubble in a matter of minutes burying thousands of their inhabitants alive. Villages and hamlets in an area of 28,000 square kilometers were devastated. Houses and farmyards were catapulted or buried under huge landslides caused by the strong tremors. The landslides and mud avalanches which followed cut off dozens of towns and hundreds of villages from the rest of the world. Roads were blocked or washed away and bridges were damaged. That made most of the stricken areas inaccessible except by helicopter.

Thousands died under the debris of their own houses. A large number of children and sick people were killed when school and hospital buildings caved in. Even those who had survived with injuries could not get medical aid in time because of shortage of helicopters and the bitter cold and rain that followed the quake. Thousands more died for want of food and medicines. As a WHO official said the quake was worse than the tsunami disaster of December 2004 that hit 11 Indian Ocean littoral states. That disaster had displaced 1.5 million people while the quake uprooted more than 2.5 million people in an area much smaller then that affected by the tsunami.

A sad aspect of the tragedy was that many of the victims who could be taken out alive from the rubble could not be helped because of the shortage of equipment and trained persons. Only a few could be rescued. That too by the teams of experts from England, France and Turkey who had special equipment and trained dogs to track down the people trapped under the rubble.

Pakistan is one of the largest and comparatively advanced Muslim countries with a reasonably developed infrastructure and a well trained army. The troops did their best yet thousands perished uncared for and even uncounted.
It became obvious within a few hours of the quake that the country could not cope with the huge tragedy and its aftermath. With its small fleet of 30 helicopters and hurriedly borrowed another 18 or so from other countries, the rescuers could not even survey all the affected sites.
Consequently, the Pakistan government appealed the international bodies and friendly countries for help. Britain, France, and Turkey rushed in expert rescue teams. China and Japan also sent men and materials to help in the rescue and relief operations. , the United States helped with helicopters. The United Nations gave a call for emergency relief aid. The Muslim countries, significantly Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Iran, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Libya and Algeria sent in money, medical teams and relief goods.

At the time of writing of this note, help was pouring in from many countries of the east and the west. But the situation was still grim with thousands of corpses still stuck up in the mud and debris and thousands of survivors waiting for help while shivering in intense cold and rain under the sky.
Internally, the people of Pakistan responded with generous donations in cash and kind which had reached almost four billion rupees, roughly 300 million dollars. Total commitments from foreign sources had reached 500 million dollars. Meanwhile, the UN Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, estimated that it would cost billions of dollars and five to 10 years to rebuild the devastated areas. Prime minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz estimates that rebuilding the infrastructure and the dwellings may cost upwards of five billion dollars and a minimum of five years.
Here one could not help noticing that despite the fact that almost all the Muslim countries responded to Pakistan’s call for help with large donations and some also with medical and rescue teams, it became abundantly clear that the Muslim world is still heavily dependent on the advanced countries of the west and the east in meeting big emergencies, both for resources and modern equipment. Without the massive help from the United States, Germany, Japan , China and other developed countries in the shape of helicopters , earth moving machinery and relief supplies, it would have been impossible for the Pakistani troops and other workers to reach all the quake-hit areas and provide relief supplies to the people in the time that they did.
This situation once again underscores the need for rapid economic and industrial development by Muslim countries in order to become truly self sufficient in meeting such emergencies.