Earthquake

Had a call from N about Pakistan and was asked whether I could deploy. Unfortunately due to existing work comittments I had to decline but the rest of the team was being assembled.

They had to be ready to fly out with UK USAR team from Midland airport via charter flight from 8pm tonight. At the last minute the Pakistan government refused the presence of any mapping element so my group was stood down. The USAR team went ahead. Since the worst affected area is around the line of control I understand the Pakistani government's reluctance to have GIS/GPS enabled volunteers running around taking waypoints.

How many died? Current news is that around 2,000 and climbing.

The earthquake, which hit at 0350GMT, was felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, and India's capital, Delhi. Several aftershocks followed.

Good help them all.