It is a ministry of the National Council of Churches, the nation's preeminent ecumenical organization which includes 34 Protestant and Orthodox member communions with a combined membership of nearly 52 million. Some villages were totally destroyed, having been swept down mountainsides into valleys. At least 1,000 people were injured and at least 60,000 left homeless. Poor roads and a shortage of helicopters have hampered relief efforts in the area such that local authorities had to arrange a convoy of food carried by donkeys and horses so that survivors could eat.
Weather is also a factor.
The affected region is harsh, unforgiving land, with extreme temperatures ranging from 100s at day to below freezing at night. The earthquake came at a particularly bad time for the region, which had been gradually limping back from the severe devastation caused by the February earthquake.