October 10, 2005
By Matthew Davies

Church leaders and relief agencies are responding immediately to the devastating October 8 earthquake which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, killing an estimated 30,000 people and leaving thousands more injured and more than a million homeless in India and Pakistan.

The earthquake is reportedly the worst to hit Kashmir for more than 100 years.

"On behalf of the Episcopal Church, I have written to our Anglican brothers and sisters in Pakistan and North India letting them know they are in our prayers," Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said. "Yet again we are reminded that those with the least suffer the most during natural disasters."

Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) is working with Anglican and ecumenical partners to provide emergency assistance to people affected by the earthquake, while supporting the Churches of Pakistan and North India as they respond to needs in affected dioceses.

"In a region already struggling to recover from the tsunami, we stand with our partners as they provide medical care, shelter, sustenance, and comfort to people in need," said Kirsten Laursen, ERD's senior program director for Asia and New Initiatives.

Many communities, particularly in Pakistan's hard hit Northwest Frontier province, were completely leveled, ERD reports. "At least 43,000 were injured in the country. Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, was the quake's epicenter located 60 miles north-northeast of Islamabad. In India, 2,000 people are dead."

ERD's initial support has provided food supplies – including wheat, flour, rice, cooking oil, sugar, tea leaves, and matches – to 1,600 families in the affected areas of Azad Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier Province.

"As we watch this tragedy unfolding in South Asia, we can be grateful we have an opportunity to offer practical support through the work of ERD," said ERD's president, Robert Radtke.

"The assistance will also supply shelter kits, including items such as a tent and plastic sheeting, to 15,000 families," ERD reports. "In Mansehra, mobile medical personnel are providing tetanus shots as 70 percent of the area was destroyed. Medical camps are in the process of being organized in the affected areas for 50,000 to 100,000 people."

Ecumenical efforts Church World Service (CWS), a member of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, has reported that its Pakistan-Afghanistan office is responding with expedited initial food relief and shelter kits to survivors in the Murree Hills in northern Pakistan.

ERD has partnered with CWS to provide food and medical assistance in the devastated communities of Mansehra and Murree.

"The situation is still very chaotic here. Right now everyone is focusing on rescue efforts, but those have been made difficult by the heavy rains and hail that hit some of the affected areas," Shama Mall, Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan senior program manager, reported from Islamabad October 9.

"Tremors are continuing," Mall added, "so people are afraid to be indoors. Many people are sleeping in their cars or ... outside."

Missionary support

Dr. David Johnson of the Diocese of Western North Carolina is an Episcopal Church missionary in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province.

"At present all roads are blocked and entry is only by helicopter according to our best local sources," he said in an October 10 note sent from Peshawar, Pakistan, to the Episcopal Church's Office of Anglican and Global Relations. "Mission Hospital, Peshawar, will send four teams in very shortly as soon as the roads are available to us."

Johnson, whose home in Peshawar was less than 200 miles from the earthquake's epicenter, is perfectly positioned to help those who have been injured as a result of the earthquake. A pediatric cardiologist, he is assisting Bishop Munawar Rumalshah of Peshawar in further development of public health systems as well as general clinical care through the extensive diocesan hospital system.

"We are linking up with one hospital that is not destroyed and will probably work with another but much is yet to be determined," he said.

Concerns from Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, sent a message to church leaders in South Asia October 10 speaking of his distress and assuring them of prayers as they undertake the daunting work of rescue and recovery.

"In Britain, where so many of our communities have links with the region, the impact of this tragedy is keenly felt and our thoughts are very much with you," Williams said in a letter to Bishop Alexander Malik, Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, and Bishop James Terom, Moderator of the Church of North India. "It seems clear that many of the Christian communities under your care will have been affected but I am sure that many will already be deeply involved in the work of rescue and care.

"Please be sure that your brothers and sisters in England are with you in your grief and shock, and are praying God to strengthen you all in witness and loving service," he added.

To help people affected by disasters, make a donation to the Emergency Relief Fund at http://www.er-d.org/, or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to Episcopal Relief and Development, Emergency Relief Fund, PO Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101.

Episcopal News Service
Matthew Davies is international correspondent / multimedia manager for the Episcopal News Service. With files from ACT, ERD and Lambeth Palace.