15 years later, 2005 earthquake still haunts Uri

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The epicenter of the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake was in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan and destroyed nearly 80 percent of the city in Uri and Tangadhar.

It was a normal day for Sheikh Mushtaq Hussain on October 8, 2005. His wife was outside cutting grass to feed the cattle and their three daughters were getting ready for school.

It was 9:20 in the morning, and Hussain still remembered the time, when the whole village began to shake and his house collapsed.

It was the last time Hussein and his wife saw their daughters. They were buried alive under the rubble.

Even 15 years after the tragedy, memories of that day still haunt many residents of Uri and Tangadhar which were the areas most affected by the earthquake that shook J&K in the fall of 2005. The epicenter of the 7.6 magnitude earthquake was in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan and destroyed what Nearly 80 percent of the city is in Uri and Tengadhar.

According to the 2019 Seismic Hazard Index report, about 1,500 deaths and 4,50,000 building collapses were reported in Kashmir due to the 2005 earthquake. The report also indicated that the poor performance of concrete buildings caused significant loss of life.

Hussain, who is currently working in Sarai Pandey Village Sarabanche, told the Uri Kashmir Observer that before the earthquake hit the area, they had a big house with all amenities.

“After the disaster, it took us 10 years to build a three-room house, but it never changed again,” Sarbanch said, adding that even after 15 years, 35 percent of people in Saray Pandey live in tin shacks.

Like Hussain, Abed from the village of Sultan Daki in Uri saw his two-storey house turn into rubble. His family lived in the shed until 2013 before moving to a new home in 2014.

He said, “The roads were closed and we were living under a torn plastic sheet 10 x 10”. “At night, when it rained, we would gather together to bear the guts inside that shredded plastic sheet.”

But when the powerful earthquake struck the town of Uri, which is close to the Line of Control, many, like Ershad Khawaja, in the Jarkot district, confused it with the usual border bombing.

He said, “Living near the Line of Control, people had to double check if the shaking was caused by an earthquake or shelling.”

But when he realized it was an earthquake, he and his family started jogging to a safer place. “My house collapsed before my eyes,” Khawaja said sadly, adding, “When we stopped, we saw big rocks falling from the mountains.”

He said the condition was so bad that many people were unable to find the bodies of their relatives.

When Khawaja headed towards the worst-hit village of Kamalkot in Uri, the situation was worse. “Hum bata hi nahi sakte kya manzar tha (I can’t even describe the scenes).”

He remembers there were corpses everywhere. “Homes were destroyed, and a huge cloud of smoke covered the entire village and people were looking for their families.”

After their home collapsed, Khawaja lived in an open field with his traumatized family. After three days, he said, help in the form of tents, food and treatment was starting to flow.

At that time the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road was under construction, and 60 people from Nampula and Bilalabad villages had gone with the Border Roads Organization (BRO) team to work as a workforce.

When the earthquake struck, only four were found alive.

Khawaja said the remaining 56 people were covered in the rubble and died.

“The villagers were traveling in two vehicles, and during the earthquake both cars were hit under the rubble.”

Khawaja remembers that with the onset of winter, the villagers stayed in the shed for six months, and as soon as the snow started melting, they began building their homes in March.

The government gave Rs. 1.30,000 per household, of which 30,000 rupees were allocated to build barns. “

According to Khawaja, the effects of the earthquake are still visible in the education sector in Uri.

He said many of the collapsed school buildings are still in poor condition.

“The earthquake destroyed 90 percent of the school buildings and so far 20-30 buildings in the Jeolla Uri region have not been completely constructed.”

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