-As the rescue operation after the Kashmir earthquake gave way to a relief mission for survivors, AlertNet asked aid workers for their latest assessments of the situation.
Here is a rolling snapshot of their responses, based on telephone interviews. Please scroll down to see new comments.
No excuse for not having quake-proof buildingsThe director of the U.N.&${esc.hash}39;s Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (U.N. ISDR) said Pakistan was smack in the middle of an earthquake-prone region, and a large-scale disaster had just been a matter of time.
"In the last few years we&${esc.hash}39;ve had the same kind of disaster in Turkey, in India, in Iran. What happened in Iran less than two years ago was very similar to what has happened now. So it&${esc.hash}39;s not that we don&${esc.hash}39;t know," said Salvano Brice??o, speaking the day before the International Day for Disaster Reduction, which is Oct. 12,
He said Pakistan&${esc.hash}39;s government had already been working with ISDR to improve its disaster preparedness. "They are already working on it, but these things take time?? It is a pity that this happened too soon," he said.
Brice??o said even old buildings can be made stronger to withstand the impact of an earthquake. "You should give priority to hospitals and schools. (They) can easily be retrofitted and new ones can be built with risk reduction methods. When a hospital is destroyed, it&${esc.hash}39;s a double disaster - you cannot treat the people that are wounded.
"It is terrible to see now how many schools and health centres have been destroyed.
"When it comes to bigger cities, you have impose the building codes that are normally part of legislation in almost all countries - the problem there is the enforcement. Governments have to be vigilant to ensure things are done well.
"If the public is aware of these threats, they will be more demanding with their politicians and private sector when they build the buildings."
MSF reaches cut off areas Medecins Sans Frontieresstaff are flying to a cut-off town where they fear many injured may have arrived to seek help from a hospital that has almost certainly collapsed.
Isabelle Simpson, MSF head of mission in Pakistan, said two staff would fly by helicopter to Hattian on Wednesday to assess the needs.
"The catchment area for Hattian is several hundred thousand so we think a lot of people may have moved to Hattian thinking there might be a better chance of assistance there," Simpson said, adding that the hospital had very likely fallen down.
"Hattian is half way between Muzaffarabad and Lamnian. The whole road is completely destroyed," she said.
MSF has already flown medical supplies and blankets to Lamnian and the helicopter was returning there on Wednesday with staff, blankets and mattresses before flying to Hattian.
Simpson said the region&${esc.hash}39;s geography and the number of blocked roads was a major challenge.
"We have a map ... but I think a lot of villages are not even marked on the map. I&${esc.hash}39;m sure we will never be able to cover everywhere," she said.
Another MSF assessment team went to Bhag on Wednesday ahead of setting up an operation like the one in Muzaffarabad.
In Muzaffarabad, MSF is preparing to replace mobile clinics with tent clinics. Staff were treating fractures and wounds, but Simpson said they had not seen any signs of communicable diseases.
First wave of WFP food aid starts reaching survivorsA convoy of trucks carrying high energy biscuits from the U.N. World Food Programme arrived on Wednesday in the city of Abbottabad. A second convoy was due to leave later in the day for Muzaffarabad.
"We are doing all we can to get this food where it is needed most as fast as possible," said German Valdivia, WFP Representative in Pakistan. "It will be enough for 400,000 people - many of whom have been without food or shelter since the quake struck - for the next two days, by which time we should have established a proper supply line."
A second planeload of biscuits was due to leave Italy - where the WFP is based - on Friday. Some 40 tonnes of dates, donated by Qatar, were also being transported from Quetta, in the west of Pakistan.
WFP said the first two of 10 helicopters to assist the relief operation had arrived in Pakistan, enabling rescue and aid workers to reach the most remote areas cut off by landslides. The helicopters will be available for use by U.N. agencies and international aid organisations.
Asked why the U.N. hadn&${esc.hash}39;t requested the use of army helicopters to get supplies in more quickly, Amjad Jamal, WFP spokesperson in Islamabad, said food had not initially been a priority. He added that accessibility was now improving in some areas, as landslides were cleared, unblocking roads.
WFP will be setting up five U.N. base camps in the hardest-hit locations to co-ordinate the relief operation, with inter-agency telecommunications and logistical support.
Children playing alongside death World Visionsaid it was about to set up special children&${esc.hash}39;s areas in the quake zone as it had done after the Indian Ocean tsunami.
"A priority for us is child-friendly spaces. It&${esc.hash}39;s a place which is safe for children. It has shelter, it has activities - sometimes fun and sometimes learning activities. But most of all it&${esc.hash}39;s to keep the children from having to be in the rubble, play in the rubble and be around death," spokesman Steve Matthews said.
"It is also somewhere the parents can let the children be while they sort out the more adult matters of grieving, rebuilding, salvaging..."
Matthews said World Vision had been working on disaster preparedness in Pakistan before the quake and this had enabled it to access supplies very quickly from warehouses around the world.
Three aircraft are about to arrive from Dubai, Germany and Korea carrying supplies including more than 36,000 blankets, 50,000 winter jackets for children, 144,000 water purification kits and medical kits, he said.
Praise for Pakistan militaryAid group Care praised inter-agency co-operation and co-ordination with Pakistan&${esc.hash}39;s government and military.
Co-ordination is often chaotic after disasters and was criticised following the tsunami. But Care programme officer Aly-Khan Rajani said Pakistan&${esc.hash}39;s government, the military, international aid agencies and donors were all active at U.N. co-ordination meetings.
"There&${esc.hash}39;s really a sincere effort to co-ordinate and people are talking," Rajani said.
"The representation from the Pakistan government was very impressive at the co-ordination meeting ... the government is working hand in hand with the international community."
Rajani said the military was keeping agencies informed as it cleared blocked areas. "The military is clearly being very helpful and is appreciative of the international response."
He said medical needs included disinfectant to prevent decomposing bodies from spreading disease, medicine for typhoid and antibiotics in syrup form for children.
Care is intending to deliver supplies, including tents and hygiene kits, to 2,000 households in Mansehra and Shangla in the coming days.
- ON THE GROUND: South Asia quake - day four
- ON THE GROUND: South Asia quake - day three
- FIND A CHARITY: Relief groups respond to South Asia quake
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