Disaster management

A severe earthquake jolted vast areas of Northern and Central Pakistan recently. The Met Office said the magnitude of the tremor was 6.0 on Richter scale but the US geological survey measured it to be 6.2.
In any case, the shock generating from the Hindu Kush range in Afghanistan was widespread and its waves were felt in Hazara on one side and in Multan on the other. No loss of life or property has been reported.
However, unlike the October 2005 earthquake of 7.6 magnitude on Richter scale that had killed around 100,000 persons and rendered 3.3 million homeless in the north of the country, this one did not come unpredicted. Only a month ago, seismic experts at a research symposium organised by the Geological Survey of Pakistan in Islamabad had warned of the danger of a fresh series of high magnitude tremblers in the region, comprising Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
God forbidding, if their forecast is correct, more could be coming and the impact could be ruinous as well, while we are still grappling with the unending resettlement and rebuilding work in the wake of the previous shock.
A look at the events following the 2005 tragedy, exposes our saddening quest for donations. Surely relief and rehabilitation work could not be undertaken without cash. But cash alone was what we could actually plan for and nothing else.
While a geological occurrence cannot be pre-empted by any degree of vigilance, the readiness for disaster management can at least lessen its destruction to the minimum.
The experts at the Islamabad symposium have called for studying seismic hazards, structural geology, tectonics and geo-dynamics to take advantage of the latest advancement in earthquake engineering and space technologies for organising relief. Japan's example should be examined where the entire methodology of construction has been modified to absorb tremors of high magnitude with zero loss.
That mostly the government buildings had been affected in the 2005 devastation definitely exposes the quantum of concern and attention paid to the standards of construction by our authorities. The new rules and regulations for quakeproof buildings have only been enforced in Islamabad in letter and spirit so far. They need to be strictly followed elsewhere as well.
Fragile structures should be repaired and new shelters should be established in the areas under direct threat. Arrangements should be made to shift the affected people from the places of upheaval in the shortest possible time.
Federal, provincial and local administrations should equip their emergency squads with all required manpower, skills and instruments. The Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority founded after the 2005 calamity should be activated and programmed to combat any future urgency.