Response to Afghanistan/Pakistan Earthquake

The 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan on October 26 has killed more than 400 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 111,000 homes in northeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. With winter weather conditions already setting in, it is critical to reach those in need as soon as possible.

International Medical Corps teams are mobilized and supporting a response that includes:

• Eight mobile medical units deployed across Nuristan province, Afghanistan – one for each district in the hard-hit region. Nuristan’s 160 health posts are staffed by community health workers that had been previously trained by International Medical Corps.  Together, these mobile medical units and staffed health posts have provided health care to at least 3,989 people in the aftermath of the quake; with communications down, some health posts have been unable to report in.
• 7,966 people have benefitted from the distribution of 1,138 relief kits in Afghanistan -- these kits include blankets, plastic sheeting, water containers, hygiene supplies and more.
• Our teams are now working closely with the leadership of Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, where damage is reportedly the most extensive, to determine how we can best report response efforts. 
• In Pakistan, International Medical Corps mobile medical units are providing care in the remote Shangla District – at times walking up to four hours in mountainous regions to reach villages.  Since the quake, teams have provided 1,207 health consultations and psychosocial consultations for 360 people.  104 families in Pakistan have received hygiene kits and blankets.

In addition to providing health care services and supplies, we have mobilized some of our 19,000 volunteers in Afghanistan who had previously been trained by International Medical Corps in emergency response.  We continue to receive reports of how these teams have responded in their own communities – in one village, the community response team immediately went to work digging families out of rubble; in another, a community response team cleared a stream that had been blocked by debris, reducing the chance of subsequent flooding that would due further damage to their homes.

Thanks to the support of GlobalGiving and other generous donors, International Medical Corps is able to provide lifesaving services in some of the most hard-to-reach areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.