Evaluation of the FAO Response to the Pakistan Earthquake

In 8 October 2005, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale struck northern Pakistan. It flattened entire towns and villages across the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK), killing more than 73,000 people and seriously injuring some 70,000. Around 3.5 million people were rendered homeless.
The quake also extolled massive losses on assets supporting local livelihoods, notably in the agriculture sector with damage and loss estimated at US$409 million. Crop losses ranged from 30 to 75 percent. Food, tools and seed stocks were buried under collapsed buildings. About half of the traditional irrigation infrastructure was deeply damaged, rendering it inoperative. Livestock died under collapsed buildings and in landslides. The earthquake also magnified the impact of erosion and environmental degradation in this Himalayan region, causing several major landslides and thousands of smaller landslips.
A massive relief effort was mounted involving the Government of Pakistan (GOP), the army and relief agencies. People from every corner of Pakistan and overseas volunteered to help or donated money, clothes and food. The GOP put in place a fund to support the reconstruction of earthquake-resistant homes and set up to reconstruct public buildings and other infrastructure through the newly established Earthquake Relief and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).