Executive Summary
Context
On Monday 26 October 2015 at 14:09:32 local time, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake was recorded by United States Geological Service (USGS) near the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan (SW of Jarm) that occurred as the result of reverse faulting at intermediate depths, approximately 210 km below the Hindu Kush Range in northeastern Afghanistan. The jolts were felt across Pakistan but more intensively in KPK (in thirteen districts), particularly Chitral, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Swat, Shangla, Malakand and Buner. If the earthquake had struck at night, and not in the middle of the day, there would certainly have been greater casualties.
The human development index (HDI) score in the above mentioned severely earthquake affected districts is lower than the national average, indicating areas lagging status in average income, education and health indicators. The loss of poorly built residential houses, farmland and livestock amplifies the income shock and likely to give a further downward push to the poor households below the poverty line for an extended period if recovery and reconstruction activities are delayed.
In the seven severely affected districts alone, 170 lives were lost and 1070 injured (188 and 1,138 in all the thirteen districts respectively). Details of damages assessed by KPK in all the thirteen districts are available in Tables 14 & 15.
Emergency Relief and Assistance
The destruction was widespread, a provincial emergency was declared, PDMA was mobilized (assisted by the Pak Army) and finances made available to provide emergency relief and humanitarian assistance (by road and air) to the affectees. A major impediment in the relief operations and assessments was the remoteness of the area, rugged terrain, accessibility, scattered population and extreme weather, which added to the logistical difficulties. Details of the up to date relief deliveries are being shared by the Federal and Provincial Governments through NDMA and PDMA websites.
However, feedback coming from the field suggests that the supply of non-food items, particularly tarpaulins and non-winterized tents, proved inadequate and the fear of being trapped drove many families, including those whose houses had not been damaged, to seek temporary shelter in the open or with relatives.
The Government also announced special compensation package for deaths, injuries and for reconstruction of houses. Most of the compensation has been paid and desperate efforts are being made by the government to complete verification of the pending claims and finalization of the balance payment.
In this connection relevant line agencies assisted by other government counterparts and representatives from the local government, military and community representatives were also mobilized to assess the overall damages. Independent assessments have also been carried out by other stakeholders in pockets of the affected zone. Except for the housing sector where some debates are still taking place in relation to the partial or total damages to the houses, the remaining assessment of physical assets appear quite realistic. Details of the public sector infrastructure, damages and estimated reconstruction and rehabilitation cost of the affected districts which has been carried out by the Provincial Government is shown in Table 15 (17 and 18 in respect of the seven severely affected districts) of the Recovery Plan.