Precautions

Tremors were felt in Karachi late Tuesday night. Although the Met department says the tremors only measured 4.0 on the Richter scale, people were sure panicked. I rang up Beyzar last night only to find out he with his family was sitting outside the apartment block. Assured him that it must be safe to go inside, but advised him to wait atleast 15 minutes more. The Met department says these little shocks are of no danger and people should remain calm. Moreover, these shocks werent related to the quake of Saturday (Balochistan and Sindh lie roughly in a different fault than do Northern Pakistan and Punjab). Whatever the Richter scale says, we must equip ourselves against any kind of shocks. Here is a list of precautions to be taken in the event of an earthquake (or tremors): Indoors:

• If you're indoors during an earthquake, the best thing to do is to crouch and cover yourself. Better still if you can get yourself under a table or desk, and stay there until the shocks have subsided. You can also stand in the door frame, or take shelter against an inner wall of the house. They are less likely to collapse than an outer wall of the house.
• Dont try to run out of the building. You can be hit by falling debris from the building.
• Stay in your safe place until after the shocks. Keep on the lookout for fires. Fires are the most devastating aftermath of earthquakes.
• After the shocks, if you do have to evacuate the building, use the stairs rather than the elevator, and get as far from the building as possible.

Outdoors:

• Stay clear of buildings, electric poles, trees etc when you're outdoors.
• When the shocks occur, crouch and cover. Stay in one place.
• Seek out a clear place.
• While in a car, stop the car immediately, and wait patiently with your seat belt strapped.

With these little precautions a lot of damage can be avoided.

God help us all.

The students at FAST-NU Karachi campus have managed to raise up a sum of Rs. 38,000 in the last two days. They have also set up a relief camp in the university, where the goods collected each day go to the PAF Museum. The faculty has announced that it will donate its salary of one day towards the relief effort.

Alongwith the goods, I went to the PAF Museum yesterday. On Monday, we took around 250 people with us (yes, all FASTians!), and yesterday, there were around 170. Its always heartening to see when people forget all their differences to work towards a cause. At the camp, there was no rich or poor, guy or girl, hindu or muslim. We were all Pakistanis, and working towards the relief of our fellow Pakistanis.

Stayed there from 1.30 to 5.00, and till then I was cramped that I couldnt even walk. But eventually, I did, warna I wouldnt be home in time for iftaar!

Decided to go back at around 10 pm. Turned out it was a tall order, it felt that the whole Karachi has arrived there to help! It took us 45 minutes to inch towards the camp setup at the Sharae Faisal entrance, a distance that takes normally 5 minutes to cover.

I am impressed by Pakistanis, especially Karachiites. I used to think we didnt have that much fervour left in us. But this tragedy, has made me thinking otherwise.

Yes, I am proud to be a Pakistani!