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South Asia Earthquake

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Pakistan , India , and Afghanistan , on October 8, 2005 , at 8:50 a.m. local time. The epicenter of the temblor was located near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir , and approximately 60 miles north-northeast of Islamabad . The earthquake killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistan and approximately 1,300 people in India . Another 70,000 residents in Pakistan and 6,600 in India were injured, and more than 2.8 million people became homeless as a result of the quake.

A USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) arrived in Pakistan on October 10 to assess humanitarian needs, assist with the targeting and coordination of U.S. Government assistance in conjunction with USAID/Pakistan, and provide technical assistance as required. The humanitarian relief operations focused on the provision of shelter, relief supplies, health facilities, water and sanitation sources, and logistics operations.

DASP Detailer	Assignment	Dates
Chris Leonardo	Response Management Team (PC)	10/20/05 – 10/29/05
Gary Barrett	Response Management Team (DMR)	10/09/05 – 10/30/05
	Response Management Team (Logs Backstop)	12/27/05 – 12/30/05
Jerry Barrow	Response Management Team (C&RC)	10/29/05 – 12/02/05
Nick Oprandy	Disaster Assistance Response Team (Logistics Officer)	10/31/05 – 11/22/05
Ron Libby	Disaster Assistance Response Team (Field Officer)	11/19/05 – 12/21/05
Tom Frey	Disaster Assistance Response Team (DM Consultant)	12/09/05 – 12/18/05

In response to a Government of Pakistan (GOP) request for assistance to improve their disaster management capabilities, the South Asian DART asked the Response Management Team to identify a disaster management expert. Tom Frey was requested for this assignment due to his extensive background adapting the U.S. domestic Incident Command System (ICS) to international disaster response.

On December 15, Frey made his presentation on the Incident Command System as Practiced in the U.S. to 17 members of the Federal Relief Commission ( FRC ) in Pakistan . The presentation and subsequent consultations were well received by the GOP, which is interested in further dialogue and technical assistance.

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