The 7.6 Richter earthquake which shook South Asia on Oct. 8 is the worst in the region in nearly a century. Its epicentre was in Pakistan but the tremors were felt as far apart as Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Here&${esc.hash}39;s a brief overview of the scale of the challenge now facing emergency workers:
They have to get food, tents, blankets and medical help to most of the 4.5 million people living in the region. That&${esc.hash}39;s the same size population as Norway.
Many of the roads have been destroyed, and a week after the earthquake hit they have just 25 helicopters to deliver aid to an area about the size of Switzerland. That&${esc.hash}39;s according to Jan Egeland, U.N. chief emergency relief coordinator, who says 100 helicopters were available very quickly after the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004.
One week on, 20 percent of the area had not yet been reached by rescuers.
Ten days after the earthquake struck, at least 47,000 injured people had not yet seen a doctor, 16,000 have, but more than 26 hospitals and 600 clinics were destroyed in the quake. Hospitals in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, have just 1,800 beds .
The temperature at night is 0 degrees Celsius in October, dropping to -6 degrees Celsius in November.
Jan Egeland says the fact the earthquake occurred in the Himalayas meant its affects were aggravated "a 1,000 times" .
The Pakistan government estimates the quake caused ${esc.dollar}5 billion worth of damage.
Sources: United Nations, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Asia Week.Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
