On the 8th of November 2005, the Pakistani Government released information saying that the official death toll was 73,267, while officials say that around 1400 people died in India and that 4 people died in Afghanistan. The total death toll was over 74,500.

The people who were mainly affected lived in the mountainous regions of Pakistan being killed by landslides and other hazardous material falling down. The landslides blocked roads, this therefore left 3.3 million people homeless, just in Pakistan.

The earthquake was caused by a collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates (see below for image). These two plates colliding also caused the Himalayas to be formed, caused by the unstable seismicity in the region. The exact epicentre about 11.8 miles northeast of Muzaffarabad and 65 miles northeast of Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. The hypocenter of the earthquake was located at a depth of 16.2 miles below the surface. The damage caused by the earthquake was devastating, the worst being in northern Pakistan, but other areas including Afghanistan, India and the southern parts of the Kashmir valley. Islamabad and Karachi felt an aftershock of 4.6 on the Richter scale. 147 aftershocks were felt on the first day after the initial shock. One of the highest aftershock after the earthquake was recorded at 6.2! Twenty Eight aftershocks had a higher magnitude. On the 19th October 2005, a series of aftershocks were also felt, one with a magnitude of 5.8, this was located 40.5 miles above Muzaffarabad. Up to the 27th October 2005, there was more than 978 aftershocks recorded, these occurred daily!

The damage to buildings was horrendous, 60% collapsed and were the cause of the majority of the deaths. As you can see to the right, most people were crushed by the buildings. The roads were completely ruined, making it harder to escape. Most of the cities hit by the earthquake were completely obliterated by the shaking of the ground. Hundreds of thousands of building were thought to have collapsed. Two skyscrapers with 60 apartments in each fell down, nearly everyone who owned an apartment in one of the buildings died. Other people were rescued from the neighbouring skyscraper. The Karakoram highway, which connects Pakistan to China, was blocked in many areas.

To the left is the main part of the Karakoram highway, as you can see it passed right through the epicentre of the earthquake, with this motorway blocked, it will make it increasingly harder for the surrounding countries to give support. With many victims trying to escape the damage, they will use the motorway, not knowing that it has also been affected, therefore causing more delays.

The rescuers needed heavy machinery to clear the rubble; this took time, making it harder to save. Pakistani Soldiers, Polish military engineers, the USA, and Humanitarian Aid all helped. The USA gave supplies and resources, while the Polish military engineers help rebuild homes and shelters. Humanitarian Aid reached the people in more remote areas. Snow started to fall on October 13th 2005 in the Kashmir Valley and in India, this therefore mad it increasingly harder for people to be rescued.

The snow on the Satellite image to the left shows the snow around the epicentre and how hard it was for people to get help. With snow falling, the temperature drops, making it harder for people to survive outside in the rubble.

To the right is an image of the Humanitarian Aid reaching people far away, who are isolated. The UN raised more than US$272 million to help victims. Big companies helped build new homes for the victims. 20 paramedics from New York flew in to help the survivors. They managed to treat 200 people a day for two weeks!