Remembering that dreadful morning of 8th October 2005

The morning of 8th October 2005 was no different from the previous mornings for many decades in Pakistan till about 8:50 am when a powerful earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale jolted Pakistan's northern areas of Balakot, Mansehra and many parts of Azad Kashmir (Pakistan administered part of Kashmir) including its capital Muzaffarabad, besides Rawlakot and Bagh. Within next ten minutes, the entire cities perished and turned into piles of rubble. As the daily scores rose, an estimated 100,000 lost their lives, 3-4 millions became homeless, including over 80-90,000 seriously wounded. A majority of the people who died consisted of school and college students.

As the days went by, the damage reports swelled. We lost some 600,000 houses, completely razed to ground, 7,000 schools totally destroyed (burying under them smiling children who had left their mothers with their innocent smiles just an hour ago). The powerful quake destroyed over 200 link bridges that made rescue operations extremely difficult. Hats off to the soldiers of Pakistan Army, who carried food and clothes in their backpacks to climb the treacherous mountains to reach to the people left in the open and who brought back sick and wounded on their backs on their way back. The overall losses were around $ 5.5 billion.

Five years after today, although much damage has been restored, there are still many who have yet to be rehabilitated. Many schools are still to be built and countless people long for the rebuilding of their houses that turned into rubble. While the world wide opened its arms and donated generously as the then government did not have credibility problem. Plane loads came in waves to bring relief goods, while Pakistanis wholeheartedly supported their brethren in distress.

The earthquake left behind thousands of lamenting tales behind – of children that died when the school roofs fell and of teachers who died saving the little children. Just yesterday, there was news that a boy was reunited with his mother since he got separated from her on that fateful day. But many women still lament the loss of their children; brothers grieve for their siblings, while fathers and husbands cry for their children and wives.

We have hardly overcome the shock, when this year flash floods added to the miseries of many more. I do not know how much time it would take for the rehabilitation of people from Swat to seashore of Arabian Sea and the rebuilding of the many more bridges, schools, buildings and roads. I only pray for no more wraths from the Nature and hope we recover from the aftershocks, and live again.

Related Links:

Earthquake 2005 (Pakistanpaedia)

Lamenting Scars of the Soul

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After the floods, it is the earth that shakes

Just when Pakistan is braving the last of the floods in the southern tip of Pakistan, that earlier left some 20 million homeless and destroyed some two million houses since the floods started in July 2010, the earth moved with a massive jolt on Friday night. Fortunately there have been no reports of any damage so far.

I was just about to go to sleep when my bed shook noticeably and the ceiling fan started swaying. I yelled at my wife to run outside immediately. But we stopped at the main door as it was raining very heavily outside. So we keep standing in the main door for sometime before getting in the house. I switched on the TV and there news of the quake from the entire north to down south as far as the city of Multan.

The epicenter of the quake was said to be 115 km northwest of Chitral (Pakistan) in the mountain range of Hindukush in Afghanistan at the depth of some 199 kilometres, making it a deep earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The jolt that continued for some 15 seconds measured 6.3 at the Richter scale.

It may be added here that on October 8, 2005, a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Pakistan with its epicenter located approximately 336 kilometers (208 miles) southeast of Friday's earthquake. The powerful quake had left some 87,351 people killed and injured another 71,000. There were massive infrastructure damages, especially in the northern parts of Pakistan and Kashmir. Pakistan has yet not been able to bring the life to normalcy in the quake hit areas so far.

The recent floods have already done a major damage to life, property and the communication infrastructure that would require a massive relief effort to rebuild. Any damages by the quake last night would have compounded the sufferings manifold – thank God none have been reported so far. We pray earnestly for no more natural calamities.

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The Lamenting Scars of Soul

I write this new post with a very heavy heart as it carries in itself hidden cries of a young woman, Yasmeen ( who happens to work at our house), which she tries to hide but when she cannot anymore, her anguish can be visibly seen and felt – but its only her who bears the grief and sorrow that started on 8 October 2005.

She was happily married with two cute doll like daughters aged 5 and 4. She lived in a small mud house somewhere near Balakot. She loved her husband and he loved her too or so to say. On that fateful day, when her husband had had his breakfast and went out for work, she cooked chapattis for her daughters and asked them to come and eat. But the elder one refused as she wanted “paratha (chapatti greased with ghee or oil” – seeing her elder sister, the smaller doll also refused to eat plain chapatti and insisted on having paratha as well. The poor mother, who couldn’t afford the luxury, refused. Both dolls, then boycotted the breakfast and went inside the house protesting. And it was 8:55 AM. Suddenly the entire landscape too grumbled as a protest and like everyone else, her house also collapsed on her two young siblings. The heartbroken mother ran to the rubble and tried to dig out her daughters – but they were to be no more. They were there lying sound asleep – no more wanting to eat parathas. Yasmeen cried in pain, but her daughters could not awake.

Having buried her daughters, she thought the ordeal was over. But it was just the start. Yasmeen’s mother came and took her grief stricken daughter with her, with the permission of Yasmeen’s husband, so that she gains control over herself. She in fact was mentally shocked over her loss and wanted a break from the scene of tragedy and get to gather herself. But her husband, who got the wind of her partial nervous breakdown, could not wait any longer and one day sent her the divorce.

I am not a good writer to put together the true agony and the suffering of this young woman but every few days, she talks to my wife telling her two she badly missed her home, her daughters and the man she thought loved him. Just today she told my wife that she dreamt having seen her daughter last night who was asking as to why she was sad and morose since you are living with your mother. Look at me who is away from you……..

Life for Yasmeen is not and will not be same again – although her mother is trying to marry her off once again, but the memories the day which scarred her life for ever, would always haunt her. This is just one story – there are countless stories of similar kinds buried in the hearts of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and husbands, who lost their near and dear ones. Though they continue to live on, the scars of the soul will never be healed for God knows how many years.

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