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REAL HEROES OF PAKISTAN

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Earthquake prediction simply impossible

Rumour mills again got active on Sunday night after a 5.9 intensity aftershock jolted northern Pakistan that another major earthquake is imminent. Citizens of Islamabad and Karachi particularly bought the canard and spread so much scare that Meteorological Department Director-General Dr Qamaruzzaman Chaudhry had to appear on television to soothe their nerves.

“Never in history has a major earthquake been followed by another major earthquake,” he said.

Aftershocks do follow for weeks but they have a positive aspect, he said.

Some 900 minor and major aftershocks recorded since the October 8 earthquake establish that the energy underneath the epicentre of that quake was being released and not building up which in fact causes earthquakes, he explained.

Dr Qamaruzzaman noted that it took 100 years after the last major earthquake hit the region — the Kangra earthquake in 1905 — for sufficient energy to build up to cause the October 8 havoc.

Before that a high intensity earthquake to hit the region had occurred in 1555 AD, he added.

Despite these assertions by an expert, it is possible that some people may still be willing to lend their ears to baseless gossip that tends to strike fear in the hearts of common people.

It would be useful for gullible people to know that there exists no method, no instrumentation in the world to predict earthquakes.

Only amateurs, cranks and outright publicity seekers would indulge in wild predictions, and they would be all wrong, says Robert Geller, a professor at the Department of Earth and Planetary Physics, Tokyo University.

Other scientists including David Jackson, Yan Kegan and Francesco Mulargis are definite that no scientist has ever predicted a major earthquake. “They do not know now how (to predict), and they do not expect to know how at any time.”

Earthquake prediction is usually defined as the “specification of the time, location, and magnitude of a future earthquake within stated limits, and the prediction must be reliable and accurate”, scientists say.

And recent researches continue to assert that the belief that earthquakes could be predicted is entirely misplaced.

For large earthquakes to be pinpointed in advance it must be based on the study of unusual events.

According to a recent meeting of seismologists and earth scientists the Earth is in a state of self organized criticality where a small earthquake may perhaps graduate into a major one, but whether it would depend on a catalogue of details of happening at some distance from it.

In any case prediction of a specific large earthquake would require the unlikely capability of knowing all these factors with a degree of accuracy which is beyond any one’s ken at this precise moment.

Based on scientific researches we can say with a degree of certainty that no one can predict an individual earthquake.

By: Jonaid Iqbal
Courtesy: DAWN

Donate.. the work is not over yet; you can't leave that soon!!

As time is passing by, the enthusiasm and spirit of nation and the world is getting feeble. According to astronomical and astrological readings/predictions, Pakistan will remain in danger zone till Febuarary 2006 and then things will get LITTLE better. I hope everthing gets fine soon but still think practically. If we as a nation, and world will stop donating at this crucial moment then how we would be able to complete the major phase of reconstruction and rehabilitation.

People you gotta think for the sake of humanity atleast, it doesn't matter whether you belong to a different country, race or religion, the only thing which can make a difference is your help and donations. If you can't afford much, just spare $/Rs.1 per day, which makes only $/Rs.30 per month that is alot of money. By considering this simple fact, we can collect billions of money for the rehab work.

Hey people wake up, Pakistan need you!

Related Links:
They still need us
Life goes on..

May chota sa aik baccha hoon

(This is my latest 'Nazam' dedicated to all Kashmiri children suffered due to earthquake)

Yeh aaj achanak kia hua
Har nazara kiyon badal gaya
Har sahara kiyon bichar gaya
Who aik lamha aisa tha k sab kuch he to bikhar gaya
Aur who aik lamha bas meree aankho may he thehar gaya
May kaisay khauf say bhaga tha
May dora tha k apnee ammi key banhoon may,
Gaud may simat jaoon
Aur har khauf say, dukh say aur dard say nikal jaoon
Par ghar aaya to, na dar tha na deewar thee
Na us may rehnay wala koee makeen tha baqi
Haan bas hasrat-o-yaas-o-udaasee thee baqi
May khauf k maray dubka khara tha aur
hairat ka putla bana malbay may apnee ammi ko talashta tha
aur cheekh cheekh k pukar raha tha
ammi jaan, ab jaan kahoon ya bay jaan kahoon?
ammi jaan kia aap malbay k ander hain?
Ammi mujh ko daant he do
Par mujh ko tum awaz to do
Dekho mujh ko dar lagta hay
Ay kaash k yeh sab khawab sa ho
Aankh kholoon to, gaud ho, banhain ho, aur aapkee key piyaree batain ho
Par aisa kuch bhee ho na saka
Ab apnay nannay hathon say malbay ko hatana hay
Aur apnee ammi jaan ko shayad khud say he uthana hay
Aur phir apnay he haathon say unko matti may chupana hay
Dekho piyaree ammi jaan
“may chota sa aik baccha hoon
Aur kaam kar raha hoon baray baray”

Please go to ur mother and hug her and tell her that u love her. (u cant find the word descibing Ma ...isnt it)

Poem by Aamanna

After the disaster

LET US ANALYZE OURSELVES:

How have I reacted in this present situation? With panic, despair and wailing or with dignity, patience and faith?

Do I only remember Allah when I face hardships or calamities and once it passes away, do I forget Him?

What positive change has come about in my life after this calamity?

Have I started to study what guidance Allah has sent for me in the Quran?

Has my pace in constructive activities (efforts towards personal reformation, hastening in good deeds) increased?

Do I still put off good deeds for the next day?

Have I stopped wasting my time? Have I left idleness, laziness and negligence?

Has there been any change in my routine so I can balance between world and religion?

Have I started worrying about fulfilling my obligations, acts of worship and responsibilities?

Have I left moral vices such as backbiting, lying, fighting and breaking trusts?

What have I done anything to help humanity affected by the earthquake?

What have I sacrificed to serve Allah's Deen?

Have I learned anything at all?

If death overtakes me today, am I ready to meet Allah Ta'ala?

IF WE CANNOT CHANGE OURSELVES, HOW CAN WE EXPECT THE CONDIONS OF THIS WORLD TO CHANGE?

Taken from a pamphlet and then edited.


PS: Orginally posted by B. Plenty more is in kitty but I waiting for the right time to post them. Do keep visiting and spreading the word!

LET THIS BE A START

All of us Pakistanis are together helping our fellows in pain and endless troubles, and all of us are making use of all the ways in which we can lessen their pain even if we are having to sacrifice. I wish this spirit remains high and doesnt settle down in the next few days. Because no matter how much we do, they will need us much and for a long time.

And why do we forget, its not just now after the earthquake that we are seeing all this suffering. We are seeing it with our naked eyes and minds just because they've maximized enough to draw our attention. Most people in our country are already poor, there are homeless spending their days and nights in the open no matter how fierce the weather is.

There are foodless with big families, because they cant earn enough money, and many even commit suicide due to that.

There are those (actually most in our country) who dont have clean water to drink, because its all contaminated and causes death and disease. And when they get ill, they cant afford for themselves a proper treatment or even a simple medicine.

Infact, all the suffering that you are seeing now has been there already and on a much larger scale than this quake has caused. Other than the food and shelter missing, you can imagine all kinds of troubles in store for the poor and weak in our country and all over the Muslim world. Injustice, opression by the rich and poweful, cruelty shown to the women, and lack of all the basic facilities like education, jobs etc.

Isnt all that equally heart aching? we must remain sensitive to this, not showing apathy thinking we keep hearing about this all the time and its just too common.

So why shouldnt we keep together and united like this and like we have already tried our best to help the quake victims on our own. LETS CONTINUE THIS FOR ALWAYS, HELPING THE POOR and the NEEDY and THOSE in PAIN. Lets this be a start and make ourselves more organized so we can help properly.

Right now i m remided of a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said that anyone of you having an extra thing (that he doesnt use) he should give it to the other person (and not keep it to himself).

Who would remain poor if all of us did this.

Keep Sharing! :)

May Allah bless us all, aameen.

-B

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This is HOPE

"Thank God, there was only one death in our family," says Mrs Aziz.

"My brother's wife - she was so incredibly pretty - was killed," and her brave attempt to hold back her tears fail.

"No, don't think I am a weak person. But when I think of her, I cannot help it."

It is this spirit that has perhaps helped this family more than anyone else.


-An extract from Minigma's Blog

What you can learn- Be patient and thankful in every situation because whatever He has planned for you is always for your betterment. Umeed ke dam per hai duniya qayam!

"Why should ALLAH punish you, if you are thankful and if you believe ? And ALLAH is Appreciating, All-Knowing"
[The Quraan:4:147]

So people take this incident as a test not punishment. More elaboration tomorrow.. so stick right here.

Two stories with a similar message

Case 1:
During the rescue efforts, a team from Turkey found a two year old boy under debris after 5 days of actual calamity with help of modern cameras. The child was alive, responsive and was rescued. He was completely okay, mashallah se there wasn't even a single scratch over his body. When that innocent life was rescued and handed over to his father, applause came from every living person and you can see a magical glow and love on his face for his child. The moment at which all celebrated this success, forgetting their own sorrows for few minutes. When Allah is with you, don't worry because you are under safe hands!

Case 2:
AryOne interviewed this small girl who didn't had any idea where her family members were, her innocent words: "Zalzala aaya haina?! ..mera chota bhai haina, buhat serious hai, meri mumma haina woh hamare bighair nahi reh sakti thin"(Do you know that an earthquake has come?! My little brother you know; he's very serious. My mom, she couldn't live without us-when she was alive). This literally made me cry.

The point is life is so unpredictable. You don't know Godforbid when and how this can also happen with you. Show your love to your dear ones and never take things for granted. Today and always thank Allah for the blessing that He has bestowed upon you in the form of loving Parents.

Blog Meet-up!

Fellow Bloggers,
We are planning to have our first major blog meet-up.
The details can be viewed here.
Please, announce this on your respective blogs to ensure maximum turn-out.
See ya! (literally!)
- Insiya.

Power of a single thought

What happened, the tragedy is beyond the possibilities to express in words. We all have seen the scenes in news. The only difference perhaps we (who are in Pakistan or have relatives in those area) see is that the actual disaster is much greater then the one we see in news. I personally fear the actual death toll could be of 100 thousands people or more.

As I mentioned before, personally we felt it was not a time to wait and think what or how to help and just do what we can at that moment. The initial idea started to get some food and clothes at PAF Museum from the collections of few friends’ places and two days ago we end up getting three cars full of supplies there.

We heard the plea for medicine there and thought to get some medicine the next day and we end up collecting RS 117500/- in less then 24 hours. Yesterday we sent medicine/first aid of worth 90000 and around 225 "Kafans" for the dead. All in all, we end up having one pickup full of medical supplies, one car, and 7 more with clothes and food. And we still have more, which is left to be given today, hopefully. And not more then 15/20 friends and neighbors were involved in this tiny effort we were able to put on, all ordinary people.

The pickup that we hired for carrying the medicine, when they reached at the scene of PAF Museum, they refused to get their rent of the vehicle. When known the medicines were for the victims, we got it at the factory rate with not a penny's profit. While we were arranging the vehicle we placed the materials at the corner of the street, and guess what, people started to donate other stuff thinking it was a camp or something for the relief.

About the PAF relief effort which initially was started by Fakher-e-Alam at PAF Museum has turned out to be what is, the biggest ever relief effort I have seen live (if you have seen it in TV, trust me you have seen nothing) It is huge, unimaginably huge. Thousands of girls/guys/families are volunteering and all you see is the mountains of goods, all around you. No matter if you reach there at 2 AM you will need to go thru a huge cue of vehicles. Okay, that too can not be described in words.

Back to personal level, we still felt we can be utilized as manpower to help get that enormous aid as soon as possible to the needy. We personally felt (after looking at the thousands of volunteers at PAF) we are probably not needed there and we could find some other place which really is short in manpower. We end up signing at Ranger’s relief camp which is nearer to home, spent hours sorting the things and loaded 8 trucks with bare hands (okay now you know why my back hurts).

Just in a day, within the radius of a mile from where I live, 14 trucks were sent from the Ranger's camp, 6/7 from Al Akhtar trust, few from Ahsan-al-uloom and few from some political party’s camps. That is, just one mile radius of the city, I am sure every mile of the city and the country has done what it could. Let us all hope that the Aid actually reaches the needy and that too, on time.

Tomorrow, we have to collect 700 big hard board boxes that we will get and going to give those at PAF hopefully. Those will be used to pack some of the stuff, I have to manage & provide pick and drop to some lady doctors who have spoken to the officials and will help in sorting the medicine in the relief camps. Rest of the materials we have, had to give it away and then I am again going to labor at the Ranger’s camp.

The reason why I started to write this story half an hour ago was, that the day before yesterday me and my friend thought okay, lets meet in 30 mins and we can at least give some of our clothes at the PAF Museum, we thought it will probably be a handful bag with 10/15 pairs of clothes. That single thought between two people grew and managed to get around 150 thousands worth stuff and a manpower that can load 8 trucks in less then two hours and sort out the stuff for them. The single thought between two people. That a single thought between two people hopefully is going to grow tomorrow within our capacity.

Maybe...just maybe, if this post/writing can create a similar single thought.

And never underestimate yourself.

-Atif

Projecting a positive image

8th October 2005, a day that no Pakistani will ever forget. The day when a massive earthquake hit Pakistan and caused an unimaginable destruction in most parts of the region. Many villages have completely vanished from the face of earth where majority is dead and millions of people have gone homeless. It is a testing time for our nation and the way people have responded to it is highly commendable. Every single person from children to adults has contributed enormously either physically, financially or by spreading the message and praying. The spirits are high which has been a rare thing in history of Pakistan. This moral fiber makes us all remember the 1965 war. The youth about whom our elders thought that they are irresponsible and useless, constitutes the major contribution to relief efforts. We have joined our hands and are united, we have come this far and have made ourselves proud but there should be a much wider approach towards projecting this phenomena.

While America is still searching for Osama, and trying to confirm the fact that is Osama dead in this earthquake or made it to rescue, we should take advantage of this situation and prove the world that what our nation in reality is all about. We should try to project a positive image of our country in front of the world and should show that people of this country are not terrorists and humanity is still alive in us - far better than them. Our media and people as whole should try to project the real Pakistan and the real Islam by making footage and writing articles about the amount of concern and courage that is evident in every gali and kucha of Pakistan.

As far as the spirit is concerned, this should continue. This is just a first step; a huge amount of work has to be done. The relief and charity work should carry on because it will take if not years then several months to rebuilt and rehab these damaged areas. A day should also be dedicated not to this incident but to the soul related to it which can serve as a wake up call whenever we tend to distract from the path. I believe, if our unity remains as it is right now - not only at toughest/sad moments but at happy ones too then without any doubt I can see Pakistan on the top of the world.

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