On Oct. 29, a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team reached the Ziarat area, the area most severely affected by a series of earthquakes that morning in Pakistan. The force of the earthquake has destroyed most of the houses, which are built of mud, and people have been forced to sleep out in the cold. Approximately 150,000 people live in Ziarat district situated in a vast mountainous area about 75 kilometres north of Quetta, with about 50,000 people most severely affected.

MSF immediately set up a 24-hour clinic to treat wounded - mainly for cuts and bruises. The team dispatched blankets, cooking sets, jerry cans, tents and body bags from its stocks in Islamabad. A large afterquake occurred the evening of Oct. 29, when many people were attending funeral to bury their dead. 

MSF’s main concern is in gaining access to people living in small communities further up in the mountains and providing them with medical care and relief items. Most of the area affected is more than 2,000 metres above sea level, with the nights cold and close to freezing. Many people are sleeping in the open, fearing more tremors. 

Today an MSF team is returning to help people in Khan Killi, a second team is advancing further into Pishin District to assess the situation, while a third mobile team is exploring other settlements and treating injuries and distributing relief items.

Overall it seems to be a localized earthquake. However, the hilly Ziarat district has been badly affected and there are still areas that have not yet been reached by emergency aid. “The people are trying their best to help themselves,” says MSF project coordinator Stephen Cooper. “Some areas have been severely affected, but the overall extent of destruction seems to be limited to a 25-30-kilometre belt. Nonetheless, we are continuing to seek out those worst effected and to provide suitable relief.”