The Quake That Disappeared
On October 8th, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit South Asia. It is "believed to have killed at least 79,000 people, mostly in Pakistan's portion of Kashmir, and to have destroyed the homes of more than 3 million people," according to the Associated Press.
Compared to some other recent tragedies – and there's no question that we've seen a number in the past year – the South Asia quake has not gotten much attention. During the week of Oct. 10-14, according to analyst Andrew Tyndall, the quake was the most covered story on the nightly newscasts, but the following week, it slipped to #7 – behind Hurricanes Wilma and Katrina, Iraq, the CIA leak case, Harriet Miers, and avian flu. The Southeast Asia tsunami, which killed more than 230,000 people at the end of last year, remained a top story for weeks. Hurricane Katrina and the other hurricanes also dominated news coverage for a long period. But despite the fact that "the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake…is worse than the tsunami last year," according to the United Nations, it seems many Westerners have forgotten the quake. Not suprisingly, "donations for victims of the recent earthquake in Pakistan and India have not come close to the giving for the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina," according to United Press International.
The situation led Umair A. Khan, writing in Chowk, to observe, "beyond Pakistan's national news media, [media] coverage is a silent movie playing out on inside pages (if at all)." As the death toll rises and many of the homeless are endangered by the impending winter, he implores people to literally scream in order to bring attention to the situation. "And when others…see and hear this, and ask if you are feeling alright, tell them about the earthquake: about the helicopters, the tents, the winter, the 100,000 dead, the 100,000 to save, the 3 million homeless, the injured, the amputated, the NATO refusal, the silent media."
Compared to some other recent tragedies – and there's no question that we've seen a number in the past year – the South Asia quake has not gotten much attention. During the week of Oct. 10-14, according to analyst Andrew Tyndall, the quake was the most covered story on the nightly newscasts, but the following week, it slipped to #7 – behind Hurricanes Wilma and Katrina, Iraq, the CIA leak case, Harriet Miers, and avian flu. The Southeast Asia tsunami, which killed more than 230,000 people at the end of last year, remained a top story for weeks. Hurricane Katrina and the other hurricanes also dominated news coverage for a long period. But despite the fact that "the aftermath of the Pakistan earthquake…is worse than the tsunami last year," according to the United Nations, it seems many Westerners have forgotten the quake. Not suprisingly, "donations for victims of the recent earthquake in Pakistan and India have not come close to the giving for the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina," according to United Press International.
The situation led Umair A. Khan, writing in Chowk, to observe, "beyond Pakistan's national news media, [media] coverage is a silent movie playing out on inside pages (if at all)." As the death toll rises and many of the homeless are endangered by the impending winter, he implores people to literally scream in order to bring attention to the situation. "And when others…see and hear this, and ask if you are feeling alright, tell them about the earthquake: about the helicopters, the tents, the winter, the 100,000 dead, the 100,000 to save, the 3 million homeless, the injured, the amputated, the NATO refusal, the silent media."
Author Thomas Friedman on Obama's Afghanistan plan and the war on terror.
