Response Ideas
Environmental Hazards 2006 Class Website
Introduction
On October 8, 2005 a 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated the Northern Pakistan region, leaving 80,000 dead, 70,000 injured, 500,000 homeless and over 32,000 buildings destroyed. These upsetting statistics illustrate Pakistan’s lack of preparedness for disasters and the need for outside help.
Pakistan’s last major earthquake was over 30 years ago, and with a median age of 19, Pakistan’s experience is lacking. Our focus is to mitigate the loss of life in Pakistan by initiating disaster education reform. This goal will increase overall preparedness for forthcoming earthquakes and ultimately reduce the number of fatalities. To accomplish this goal we propose using California’s more developed education initiatives as a template in Pakistan. Once fully implemented, we hope to turn Pakistan's earthquake cost from human to financial. After all, it is not a matter of if an earthquake will occur again, but a matter of when.
