Pakistan Earthquake Case Study

As part of SAS-065, a number of case studies were examined to determine the validity of the NATO NEC C2 Maturity Model (N2C2M2). A group decided to example the earthquake that occurred in Pakistan on 8 Oct 05 to determine if there was a good application of the N2C2M2 to a natural disaster. An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit northern Pakistan on 8 Oct 05. As shown in Figure 1, the earthquake epicentre was located 100km north-northeast of Islamabad, along a fault associated with the Indian subcontinent. Over 1000 aftershocks were recorded; ranging from 5.0 to 6.0 on the Richter scale Most of the affected people lived in mountainous regions with access impeded by landslides that blocked the roads, leaving an estimated 3.3 million homeless in Pakistan alone. The total area affected was 30,000 km2, included a range of unprecedented damage and destruction, such as: Houses: 500,000 (56%), Medical facilities: 365 (65%), Telecommunications: Exchanges (86 - 34%); Power lines (33,225 - 13%), Schools/colleges: 6083 (50%) and over 1000 hospitals. Due to the earthquake, there was a significant loss to Pakistan's infrastructure. There were collapsed and blocked roads, a total loss of clean water supply, partial loss of telecommunications infrastructure, partial loss of UN VHF system, and in some cases hospitals were non-functional.