In 2016 a double disaster struck the communities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in northern Pakistan. Ijaz Zarin was part of the MSF team working to save lives after the district was hit by devastating flooding and then, just days later, an earthquake. He shares his experience...
When a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Central Sulawesi in Indonesia, doctor Rangi W. Sudrajat joined the Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) emergency response team dispatched to reach communities cut off by the disaster.
On Saturday, 25 April, when the earthquake struck Nepal, I felt tremors in Delhi. I wondered where the epicentre was and within seconds I got to know from my Twitter feed that it was near Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. In a matter of few hours, I was informed that MSF in India was sending four medical and non-medical teams from Bihar (the state bordering Nepal) and a team from Delhi.
Working in a post earthquake zone here, I have gotten increasingly used to the periodic tremors that are common after the upheaval of a major seismic event as the layers of land settle and stabilise. When in the city or office I hardly notice them, they could be faint vibration of a large lorry driving past, or just my own clumsiness causing me to stumble as I walk. I usually rely on others to tell me that one has happened, or as in our hotel grounds, the startled calls of the birds as they rise shaken from the trees.
Sherri blogs from the frontline of the earthquake in Haiti...
