QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct. 29, 2008
Scores Killed In Pakistan Earthquake
Nearly 200 Dead, 15,000 Homeless After 6.4 Temblor Near Afghan Border
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Pakistani men carry the body of a victim of an earthquake in Ziarat, 81 miles south of Quetta, Pakistan on Oct. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
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Pakistani villagers rush at Pakistan army helicopter to get relief goods after an earthquake in Ziarat, about 80 miles south of Quetta, Pakistan on Oct 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
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A Pakistani villagers look at children who are killed by the earthquake in Ziarat, about 80 miles south of Quetta, Pakistan on Oct 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)
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A view of destruction caused an earthquake in Ziarat, about 80 miles south of Quetta, Pakistan on Oct 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Shah Khalid)
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Play CBS Video Video Radical Islamic Relief It has been one year since an earthquake left more that 80 thousand dead in Pakistan. The only salvation for victims has been the radical Islamic Aid Organization. Elizabeth Palmer reports.
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Video Aftershock Preview After the huge earthquake hit Pakistan, a team of New York paramedics left their jobs and paychecks to save the lives of victims who had no other medical help. Bob Simon reports.
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Video Aiding Pakistani Quake Victims One American woman is determined to help earthquake survivors in Pakistan rebuild their lives, while coping with their losses. Michelle Miller reports on a disaster that has faded from the headlines.
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Photo Essay Quake Rattles Pakistan Strong earthquake in impoverished southwestern Pakistan kills more than 200.
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Interactive Ground Shakers Learn about what triggers an earthquake and get details on some of the world's worst.
Army planes began flying in tents, medical supplies and blankets to the quake zone in Baluchistan province, but some 15,000 homeless people in the impoverished region spent Wednesday night in the open in near freezing temperatures following the 6.4-magnitude pre-dawn jolt.
"I have lost everything," said Haji Shahbaz, mourning the deaths of 17 relatives in Wam, a hard-hit village. "Nothing is left here, and now life is worthless for me," he added, then wailed in despair, tears streaking his dust-caked face.
Pakistan is no stranger to natural disasters, but the quake comes at an especially precarious time for the Muslim country, with the civilian government battling al Qaeda and Taliban attacks while grappling with a punishing economic crisis.
As the army and other government agencies rushed to provide help, at least three hard-line Islamic organizations also were quick to aid quake survivors, according to an Associated Press reporter who toured the area.
Among them was Jamaat-ud-Dawa, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government for its links to Muslim separatists fighting in India's portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.
The group set up relief camps and won friends among survivors of a 7.6-magnitude quake that devastated Kashmir and northern Pakistan in October 2005, killing about 80,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
Baluchistan is home to a long-running separatist movement, but has so far been spared the level of militant violence seen in the northwestern tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
Wednesday's quake hit before sunrise as most people slept. Witnesses reported two strong jolts about an hour apart, saying the second at 5:10 a.m. caused the destruction, collapsing the flimsy mud-brick and timber houses common in this poor region.
"We were awoken with a big thundering noise and a tremor and we came out of our home and started reciting prayers," said Malik Abdul Hasmat, a 35-year-old teacher. "We went back inside because of the cold and then came the second and bigger jerk and all the homes collapsed."
As he spoke, excavators dug mass graves and villagers hacked away at the holes with spades. Over a loud speaker, a rescue official announced a grim find in the remains of one house: the body of young boy, believed to be around 1 year old.
The worst-hit area was the Ziarat valley, where hundreds of houses were destroyed in at least eight villages, including some buried in landslides triggered by the quake.
Dilawar Kakar, mayor of the hilltop town of Ziarat, said 170 people in the area had been killed, with 375 injured and around 15,000 left homeless. Ziarat itself, a popular summer resort since the days of the British empire, was spared major damage.
In the village of Sohi, distraught residents were digging a mass grave.
"We can't dig separate graves for each of them as the number of deaths is high," said Shamsullah Khan, a village elder.
Hospitals were flooded with dead and injured. One patient at Quetta Civil Hospital, Raz Mohammed, said he was awakened by the sound of his children crying before he felt a jolt.
"I rushed toward them but the roof of my own room collapsed and the main iron support hit me," he said. "That thing broke my back and I am in severe pain, but thank God my children and relatives are safe."
Pakistan is prone to seismic upheavals since it sits atop an area of collision between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, the same force responsible for the birth of the Himalayan mountains. Baluchistan's capital, Quetta, was devastated by a 7.5-magnitude temblor in 1935 that killed more than 30,000 people.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- People are people no matter where they live and no matter what nationality. The ones that lose and the ones that suffer are not the bigwigs of any country or the ones that call the shots of terrorist groups, but the citizens who happen to live in the wrong place at the wrong time. Children are dead and dying. Entire families wiped out. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers...died, dying, injured and homeless. Should we turn our backs on them for what? A political statement? How about we start showing what Americans are supposed to be and that is humanitarians giving a voice to those who can''t. Leading the world through example and not bigotry and hatred.
Hatred is taught and learned. We need to start teaching a new lesson. - Reply to this comment
- Ha! HA! HA! Ha! HA! You poor republicans, Sarah Palin has sold her skins for some TV time.
www.chilitoz.com is reporting that Sarah Palin has signed a deal with PlayBoy Magazine to posed partially exposed in a future release of the famous nudity magazine in exchange, Heffner will run a multi-million dollar anti Obama add a day before the election. - Reply to this comment
- Unreal. You people call yourselves christians. You are disgusting bigots that are too self-involved to see an opportunity when it hits you in the head.
You want to win the so-called war on terror? You might want to think about what fuels the terrorist armies. Ideology. If we were to go into Pakistan, and help those who have suffered, rather than crossing the border, bombing a village for one person we might suspect of being a terrorist, we might get a few people on our side, and maybe others re-thinking their thoughts about the US. But, with foul mouthed bible huggers like yourselves spouting off, we don''t stand a chance.
Go ahead and start your patriotic insults at me. - Reply to this comment
- Being a Pakistani (Christen) American I am really shocked to see the comments coming from other Christens. You are rejoicing and glorifying the human tragedy? Those who died were nomadic people who had nothing to do with politics. You are extremely ignorant and undereducated folks. You really think the entire nation of Pakistan supports terrorists. More Pakistanis have died in suicide attacks due to their support to Bush''s so called war on terrorism. There are over 8 millions strong Christens community in Pakistan who do not support Bush''s agenda. Stop your hatered and internet terrorism. Pakistanis paid a heavy price for being on Bush''s side after 9-11. The CIA appointed Mushy had ruined that country. Like Americans the Pakistanis are finally realizing that war of terrorism is not their war. You better watch ZEITGEIST on YouTube to understand what is happening with our own country. Wall street meltdown, dozens of natural disasters and AIDS; did Jesus sent those gifts from heavens?
- Reply to this comment
- How about if Pakistan makes some effective efforts to defeat the Taliban in the Tribal Areas?
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- I see gop_will_win is here arguing with themselves again.
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- Are you sure they were innocent? Afterall they rejected Jesus so we know they were sinners.
Posted by gop_will_win at 09:17 AM : Oct 29, 2008
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They must have sinned as well.
Posted by gop_will_win at 10:46 AM : Oct 29, 2008
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Knew I could count on finding something here from GOP. - Reply to this comment
- So THAT''S why the flag at the 7-11 was at half mast.
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- They must have sinned as well. Posted by gop_will_win at 10:46 AM
Was trying to find a way to respond to your comment and everything that I came up with wouldn''t have made sense to you and your off-the-wal "religious" comments. - Reply to this comment
- Are you sure they were innocent? Afterall they rejected Jesus so we know they were sinners.
Posted by gop_will_win at 09:17 AM : Oct 29, 2008
Those are the 15,000 that are now homeless.
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Posted by grouchyjohn
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They must have sinned as well. - Reply to this comment
- DoILookligaf your name says it all, maybe you should.
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- THIS IS ALLAH''''s WAY OF TELLING THOSE FROM Pakistan THAT THEY SHOULD NOT HARBOR TERRORITS.. IT IS AGAINST ALLAH''''S WILL.. AND IF THEY KEEP ALLOWING TERRORIST TO OPERATE FROM Pakistan THEN MORE DEATH WILL COME TO THOSE WHO HELP TERROIST..
ALLAH ACKBAR
Posted by DoILookligaf
Your disrespect for other cultures and religions ignored, I would like to know, since you seem to have a direct line to God, why was New Orleans nearly wiped out by Katrina. Harvey and Irene clobbered Florida (mostly GOP areas) in 1999, Jenneane, Earl and Frances, again in Florida, and again, mostly Republican strongholds in 2004, and let us not forget Ike this year wiping out Galvaston and heavy damage to the Houston area, and btw a Republican dominated area. What is God trying to say to the GOP? Please tell us, we really want to know. - Reply to this comment
- Are you sure they were innocent? Afterall they rejected Jesus so we know they were sinners.
Posted by gop_will_win at 09:17 AM : Oct 29, 2008
Those are the 15,000 that are now homeless. - Reply to this comment
- It''s a shame that blogs on almost every article has to turn political or religious. What happened to sympathy for the "people" that lost their homes and possibly their lives?
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- But dubya claims he was called by God to run for President. While I highly doubt it, God does work in mysterious ways. Even the devil does the Father''s work (again, Jesus). Just because one calls him/herself ''Christian'' does not necessarily mean that is what he/she is. Beware the false prophets who appears to mislead the faithful. The true Word is that which comes from the Father.
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- It is not our place to judge the life of these poor victims of this most tragic event. You do not know if they rejected Jesus, or if they even heard of him. Jesus said that the servant who knew the wish of his Master, as still acted wrongly, would be severely punished, but the servant who did not know the wish of his Master, but acted wrongly would only be slightly punished (it is in the Gospel). And it is a fool who would presume the mind of God. Judge not lest you be judged.
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- "and they will know they are Christians by their love."
"If a man steals your cloak, give him your tunic, too" - Jesus Christ
When, Lord, did we see you hungry? When you did to these, the least of your brothers, you did it to me.
Love thy Father and love thy neighbor, thus you shall achieve Heaven.
It amazes me the number of ''Christians'' that post on the web. Not only to they not listen to the teaching of Jesus, they only pick and choose the verses that support their redneck opinions. When Jesus came, he preached love for the sick, poor, inprisoned, the sinner, the gentile. He did not say, love those who love you, but love your enemy as well.
Should a man strike your face, turn the other cheek so he may slap that as well. He said nothing about retaliation, no punching, fighting or nuking. In fact, He said if your brother sins against you seven times in a day and asks forgiveness, you should grant it.
If you are going to preach here, make sure you actually read the Bible before you do, it might help to make you look a little less foolish. - Reply to this comment
- I thought that George Bush prayed to god so that he would kill the terrorists, and this earthquake killed 150 top level al Qaeda operatives, and spared the innocent.
No?
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Posted by grouchyjohn
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Are you sure they were innocent? Afterall they rejected Jesus so we know they were sinners. - Reply to this comment
- Let us all pray for the innocet chilkdren and women who have yet to brace themselves for the tough time ahead. Pakistan govt has no money in its coffers as we speak, just ysterday in the news they announced that the govt can sustain itslef for only three more weeks!
Lets keep the innocent in our thoughts and prayers and lets all be thankful and appreciate the little we hae. lets also count our blessings and not take anything for granted
Posted by Xzonz at 05:08 AM : Oct 29, 2008
Makes you wonder what happened to the TENS OF BILLIONS of dollars that Bush shipped to them, doesn''t it? - Reply to this comment
- God is angry with them for their refusal to accept Jesus as their savior so he made the ground shake violently.
Posted by gop_will_win at 08:38 AM : Oct 29, 2008
I thought that George Bush prayed to god so that he would kill the terrorists, and this earthquake killed 150 top level al Qaeda operatives, and spared the innocent.
No? - Reply to this comment
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