Pakistan earthquake toll reaches 18,000 dead and 41,000 injured

[DemoTex]

CNN Breaking email update.

Update: 18,000 dead.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/08/quake.pakistan/index.html

[alphafemale]

1. omg

:cry:

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. Watch Pat Robertson:

"Thank you, God, for punishing those who harbor Osama bin Laden and who treated George W. Bush so unfairly. Kill more of them, Lord. Maybe some nice aftershocks?"

[spindrifter]

3. A horrifying tragedy.

Sadly, I fear that the world is getting donor fatigue after so many horrible natural disasters. Maybe B*sh will realize that American dollars are better spent assisting people who are injured,homeless and without a means of supporting themselves than going on wild goose chases to stop terra.

[enid602]

4. sarcasm

It's too bad they don't have a president like ours; the body count would be much lower.

[DRoseDARs]

5. Wonder who'll be the 1st American Taliban Mullah to say twas God's Wrath?

:puke:

[DemoTex]

6. 18,000 "confirmed" dead.

How? So quickly? I'm not hanging my hat on that number. Might be more, might be less. No way do they know at this time.

[daleo]

8. I don't know what to make of death tallies from natural disasters anymore

Sometimes governments seem to be lowballing, other times they may estimate high. It is odd that five weeks after Katrina we still don't have a confirmed number from New Orleans, but we get this number in less than 24 hours from Pakistan.

[DemoTex]

12. Let's assume that it is a good-faith estimate ..

Then we have a super-disaster in the making.

[daleo]

14. It's true, this is a huge earthquake and the toll will be bad

There have been so many huge scale disasters in the last year or so, you can get kind of numb. I guess it is just a sort of psychological defense mechanism.

[Skip Intro]

13. Hard for me to swallow too n/t

[aquart]

17. And there are villages they can't reach yet.

They've called for more helicopters. Anything that can go in and bring lots of help.

Will they reach those unreachable villages sooner than FEMA got to New Orleans?

[serryjw]

21. I heard the 18,000 a few minutes ago on TV

Here is the ABC link

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1196712

It hit in the most rural part of India. It was a 7.6 and they don't build anything like we do.

[Phoonzang]

7. It was 3000 the last I looked

Which was about an hour ago. Quite a jump...

[Gregorian]

9. Absolute horror.

What can be said?

We must get our help to them immediately. No more war against humans. It's a fight just to stay alive on this planet.

[DemoTex]

11. Treasure for war, or treasure for relief.

I pick relief.

[Pepper32]

46. You got that right...

Mother Nature is pissed and can't be ignored. :scared:

[whistle]

10. This looks like the one...

<snip>

<link> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usdyae.htm

Magnitude 7.6 - PAKISTAN
2005 October 8 03:50:38 UTC
Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

A major earthquake occurred at 03:50:38 (UTC) on Saturday, October 8, 2005. The magnitude 7.6 event has been located in PAKISTAN. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)


Magnitude 7.6
Date-Time Saturday, October 8, 2005 at 03:50:38 (UTC)
= Coordinated Universal Time
Saturday, October 8, 2005 at 8:50:38 AM
= local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 34.432°N, 73.537°E
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region PAKISTAN
Distances
95 km (60 miles) NNE of ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
115 km (70 miles) ESE of Mingaora, Pakistan
125 km (75 miles) WNW of Srinagar, Kashmir
165 km (105 miles) N of Jhelum, Pakistan

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 8.5 km (5.3 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters Nst=142, Nph=142, Dmin=915.1 km, Rmss=1.31 sec, Gp= 22°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID usdyae

Earthquakes and active faults in northern Pakistan and adjacent parts of India and Afghanistan are the direct result of the Indian subcontinent moving northward at a rate of about 40 mm/yr (1.6 inches/yr) and colliding with the Eurasian continent. This collision is causing uplift that produces the highest mountain peaks in the world including the Himalayan, the Karakoram, the Pamir and the Hindu Kush ranges. As the Indian plate moves northward, it is being subducted or pushed beneath the Eurasian plate. Much of the compressional motion between these two colliding plates has been and continues to be accommodated by slip on a suite of major thrust faults that are at the Earth’s surface in the foothills of the mountains and dip northward beneath the ranges. These include the Main Frontal thrust, the Main Central thrust, the Main boundary thrust, and the Main Mantle thrust. These thrust faults have a sinuous trace as they arc across the foothills in northern India and into northern Pakistan. In detail, the modern active faults are actually a system of faults comprised of a number of individual fault traces. In the rugged mountainous terrain, it is difficult to identify and map all of the individual thrust faults, but the overall tectonic style of the modern deformation is clear in the area of the earthquake; north- and northeast-directed compression is producing thrust faulting. Near the town of Muzaffarabad, about 10 km southwest of the earthquake epicenter, active thrust faults that strike northwest-southeast have deformed and warped Pleistocene alluvial-fan surfaces into anticlinal ridges. The strike and dip direction of these thrust faults is compatible with the style of faulting indicated by the focal mechanism from the nearby M 7.6 earthquake.

...or it could have been this one:

Magnitude 6.2 - PAKISTAN
2005 October 8 10:46:29 UTC

<link> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usdya2.htm

...or this one:

Magnitude 5.4 - PAKISTAN
2005 October 8 06:42:31 UTC

<link> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usdyaw.htm

...or this one:

Magnitude 5.5 - PAKISTAN
2005 October 8 21:45:10 UTC

<link> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usdycj.htm

...or any one of several others:

<link> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Maps/10/70_35.html

[psychopomp]

32. 7.6! That is HUGE

I have been near the epicenter of a 6.8 and a 7.0 and they were bad enough!

[bluestateguy]

15. Michael Savage must be having an orgasm right now

He must just be pleased as punch.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

27. Hopefully he'll blind himself with his precious bodily fluids.

[ninkasi]

16. How sad...

How many more disasters will it take before we realize that we are one...we are humans, and that we are interconnected, and need each other? Let's stop the wars, and the bloodshed, and the insane violence, and concentrate instead on helping our fellow men when tragedy strikes.

Why spend endless money, and endless resources to kill each other, when death stalks so many places? Instead, let us come tighter and find ways to help each other. That is, unfortunately, a concept the neocons don't seem to understand.

[rocktivity]

18. And they came up with that number so QUICKLY!

Meanwhile on the Gulf coast, the Bush Empire slothfully slouches toward a number guaranteed not to eclipse the 9/11 dead because it would not be expedient for President Potty Stop.

:(
rocknation

[rfkrfk]

29. how strong, where, what happened last time... --> then guess n/t

[spacelady]

48. Thank you, while I do not begrudge aid to other countries in time of

need, it would have been nice to see that kind of response as quickly and as organised on our turf.

[Up2Late]

19. Here's another article (w/more pictures) from another source: AFP

(This is so tragic, due to the way homes ar constructed there, a 7.6 is about equal to the destruction a 9.5 would do in California.)

<http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/051009025739.ilv0hxs7.html>

Over 18,000 dead in Pakistan from quake: army

09/10/2005 02h57

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - - Over 18,000 people have been killed in Pakistan in the huge earthquake that shook parts of South Asia, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP.

Sultan also said that some 41,000 people had been injured in Pakistan in Saturday's quake which measured at least 7.6 on the Richter Scale. "More than 18,000 dead and 41,000 injured. Most of the casualties have occurred in Kashmir followed by North West Frontier Province," Sultan said, warning the toll could go far higher.

Meanwhile Indian military officials in the Indian-controlled zone of Kashmir have so far confirmed at least 300 people dead in the region from the quake. There were also scattered reports of casualties in towns and villages across northern Pakistan, India and southern Afghanistan.

The epicentre struck close to the dividing line between Indian and Pakistani controlled zones of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, but the quake was felt hundreds of kilometres (miles) away in Afghanistan's Kunduz mountains. "This kind of devastation has never been seen in Pakistan's history before," Sultan said earlier.

<http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/051009025739.ilv0hxs7.html>
(more at link above)

[MADem]

20. That combo of brick and camel shit, without any steel reinforcing beams

is a nightmare. In the rural areas especially, even when there is a semblance of a building code on the books, it is largely ignored.

[Disturbed]

22. Hmmm...I wonder if Osama and his friends are ok.

Just wonderin'.

[MADem]

23. I noted in another thread, if he is dead, and any of his pals lived, then

he is already buried. Can't let the sun go down and leave the carcass laying about. Roll him in a sheet, dig the hole, dump him in, and toss a bunch of rocks atop it. They bury them fast over there.

[flying_wahini]

34. it's all so horrible

can you image something like that in San Francisco ??
obviously we build stronger buildings. but that kind of loss of
life?
the 18,000 number does give me pause, tho....can it really be that
high? I am having a hard time figuring out how many people that is, really..... hard to get my head around it...

[mestup]

24. If we bombed San Francisco, would we risk an earthquake?

Why are we constantly bombing regions in the Middle East that are tectonically unstable?

I'm remembering the terrible earthquakes in Afghanistan in 2002.

That whole area is so fragile.

[Endangered Specie]

28. Sorry, but thats is pure bullshit.

[mestup]

30. No. It was just a question.

[EFerrari]

31. Please don't bomb us until I get my third case of MREs

:rofl:

[countryjake]

25. This is horrific!

Just watched a helicopter fly-over of some areas that were hit the hardest. They have whole mountainsides of homes that are totally flattened, whole towns destroyed. I have a sad feeling that the death toll will be going even higher than what they've just now confirmed at 10,000...they are saying that they haven't yet been able to rescue anyone from certain regions & the outlook is grim in those areas, so the expected toll will be more like 18,000 & probably much higher.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

26. so sad--it could happen to any of us at any time--seriously

we just never know if today could be our last.

My sympathies to the survivors--this is a heavy loss for them to live with.

[LizW]

33. Kick.

[NYdemocrat089]

35. Massive Asia quake kills more than 30,000

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9626146/

So tragic...I had no idea it was this bad.

[crispini]

37. 30,000 dead just in Kashmir

Where are the US offers of help? It comes at the very end of the article and is two lines: "President Bush offered condolences, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States was ready to help." This is a terrible tragedy.

[Midlodemocrat]

39. Based on what happened after Katrina, I bet they say

'thanks, but no thanks.

[Orrin_73]

36. Thats so sad and tragic

[Delphinus]

38. I went to CNN

and saw the picture on the front page of people lined up for supplies. I tried to e-mail them to ask them if they could see the difference between Pakistan and the "greatest country in the world" when it came to help. Couldn't find an email addy on there but, you know, the difference in response, in response time, is stark!

[Tom Joad]

40. If Caterpillars were sent to Pakistan to help clean up, instead of ...

being sent to Israel to destroy homes of Palestinians, then more people would respect the United States.

Instead, People are being "tractored out by the Cats" as my friend Muley told me.
http://www.tomjoad.org/Homes.htm

They could be put to good use in Pakistan and around there. Let's end foreign aid to countries that have no need of it, and send where there is need.

[enigma000]

41. Isn't THAT convenient for the Bushies

an "earthquake" timed to take the focus off the Administration.

[Tom Joad]

44. That is a joke, right?

I am sure that was just kind of a joke, right? (In not very good taste, imho). It sounds like you are saying "Bush timed this earthquake to take the focus away from his troubles".

Let's be clear here: Bush has no authoritiy over the earthquakes.

[enigma000]

45. and the 2000 elections were fair too? n/t

Edited for: /sarcasm

[skoppa]

42. NY Times has it up near 20,000 now!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/09/international/asia/09cnd-quake.html?hp&ex=1128830400&en=e9c556f76010b2b8&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[bpilgrim]

47. Earthquake death toll crosses 40,000

Monday, October 10, 2005



* Balakot razed to the ground
* 11,000 dead in Muzaffarabad
* 30,000 dead in Kashmir, says minister
* Death toll in Held Kashmir reaches 689
* NWFP death toll may reach 7,500: Haq
* 850 schoolchildren trapped under rubble in NWF

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_10-10-2005_pg1_1

:cry:

peace

[zann725]

43. Interesting how much easier, and faster it is to "count the dead" abroad

And how more "realistic" those numbers seem to be.

As of yesterday, Reuters reported that search and rescue there had been suspended (was it ever started REALLY?!)...and that citizens were supposed to return and seek out the month-old rotted dead corpses of the thousands still missing and presumed dead.

Maybe we can turn to foreign Red Cross units to give us a MUCH necessary, expedited "estimate" of our actual dead from Katrina/Rita here. After all, we DID give them a few billion in donations. Wherever did that all go? To that half-dozen "shells" of houses we saw constructed by "Habitat of the Humanities" right before our very eyes in "Humanity Plaza" on the "Today Show" a couple of weeks ago? Or maybe those cruise ships paid for, but not really used to house the homeless. Or those rows and rows of trailers on-the-move we see in MSM footage, as potential housing for the hurricance survivors.

I see enough "new" homeless around here...who have that displaced look...many who appear to have not eaten in days, and are not getting regular shelter or showers. I understand 2,000 were shipped here, supposedly to be housed, and cared for, and their children entered in school. The numbers I'm seeing show no evidence of no such aid. And these are NOT the usual homeless to the area I'm referring to. Imagine those dispersed to colder climates such as Utah or Minnesota?

I did see one unusually "corporate" looking, expensive NEW huge bus, with the title "Bus Bank" ("BANK?!") painted on it's side idling a few blocks from one of the homeless areas. Nobody but a less than friendly driver was aboard, and no one appeared waiting to get ON or OFF the bus. I drove by about a half hour later, and the same bus still idled. Maybe it was nothing, but...