Pakistan Azad Kashmir 2005 Earthquake Devastation and Relief Camp
Channel: Aizad Sayid
Date: 31/05/2012

I shot this video during our hastily organized Emergency relief camp a few days after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Organizing purchase of tents, essential goods, medicines and transport turned out to be much harder than expected. In the end, we were able to provide over 40 tons of relief goods and medical supplies to the earthquake affected. The earthquake hit like a bolt of lightning on September 8th, 2005. It was one of the most powerful earthquakes on record, registering a magnitude of 7.6; making it similar in intensity to the 2009 Sumatra earthquake. As of 8 November, the government of Pakistan's official death toll was 75,000, with over three million homeless. The severity of the damage caused by the earthquake is attributed to severe soil up-thrust. With Saturday a normal school day, most students attended school when the earthquake struck. Collapsing school buildings buried many thousand students alive. This video also contains footage from a collapsed college campus where over 700 students were buried alive.

I am highly indebted to Mr. Khurshid Alam, Mr. Sayed Uzair and Mr. Mansoor Khalil who participated wholeheartedly in the high stress environment of death and destruction and helped provide relief to literally thousands of locals.