Summary
On 26 October 2015 at 14:09h local time, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck North West Pakistan. The epicenter of the quake was in neighbouring Afghanistan in a remote part of the Hindukush mountain range at a depth of 212.5 km. The tremor was felt in Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of northern India. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KP) and Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were listed as the worst affected areas and they remain the focus of relief efforts. Aftershocks of varying intensity were felt in subsequent days.
In the weeks following the earthquake, information received from the more remote affected areas confirmed the preliminary observations that the foremost needs were winterization kits, shelter, NFIs and health interventions.
The current situation in each of the affected regions is presented below.
At the national level, the Government of Pakistan took the lead in coordinating the response, initiating assessments, undertaking relief activities, together with providing financial compensation to affected families.
The Pakistan Red Crescent launched a response operation focusing on providing a relief package to earthquake affected families with fully damaged houses, provision of mobile health services in specially targeted areas, and replenishment of some of the dispatched stock to ensure organizational preparedness for future emergency response. The box below summarizes the PRC achievements within this reporting period.