Is anyone else shocked/surprised by the lack of reaction on MN to the Kashmiri earthquake?

[crumpet]

I was having a look to see people's reactions to the earthquake, given that what has happened has (a) come so soon after and (b) dwarfed the New Orleans disaster - but whereas that had at least 2 threads and over 250 posts, there have been only 10 posts on the earthquake since last Saturday.

Why is this? I was really shocked that it had triggered so little response. (Or have I missed a massive thread on this somewhere??)

I was wondering about this too. Maybe the response to and media coverage of the tsunami and to New Orleans was the exception rather than the rule - (a) ultimately it feels wrong to criticise the Pakistan authorities for the chaotic response because they don't have the resources of the US, (b) the areas affected are not tourist destinations and aren't as familiar to the general population - no spectacular before and after pictures and headlines about 'trouble in paradise'. To be fair, media coverage is sensitive to the reaction of the large community in the UK with links to Pakistan.

With such a balls-up of foreign policy towards the region since 9/11, I am really keen on seeing an effective response from the government on the relief effort. I know so little about Kashmir yet feel it is connected in some way to the terrorist threat here.

Actually, Cod did start a thread. But there's not much to say, is there? Apart from posting up the numbers for the donation lines. No one to blame, no policies to question, no injustices...just sheer misery and destruction.

Must admit, I purposefully looked in this section now to see if there was thread. There were lots for the tsunami, also a natural disaster.

I haven't felt the need to post about it or discuss it on mumsnet - I have just got on quietly with donating money to the appeal, and have talked about it with dh...

In many ways I've actually found this disaster more shocking than some of the others, in a visceral and personal way, because both DP and I have family in the Indian subcontinent. The fact I've not posted much about it doesn't mean I've not thought about it (and must donate, once the money's in our account!)

do you know if they're OK?

My family's in the south (thank heavens) and DP's is in Bangladesh so yes I think so but thank you for asking. They were actually in much more danger with the tsunami.

Honestly, I was so upset about the New Orleans thread that I personally would not have started a thread to discuss this horrible situation with the earthquake in Kashmir. The photographs are chilling that we are getting over here. I have donated quietly to the Red Cross, it has been very difficult to emotionally take on one disaster after another.

I know it sounds weird but when I started the 1st thread about Tsunami as the first news came in

it was because LOU33 was there and although I have never met her she had been very kind to me and DS

And so it was like a friend of mine was in danger iyswim

I also can't comprehend the numbers from saturday

We donated money to DEC for them this morning

I know, it was the same for me Kanga, I couldn't stop thinking of Lou and if she was alright in that Tsunami....

MI glad they are ok

here is dec website or at post office

I had some gear from my hillwalking days I hadn't used in a while. Well, 4 years now. I'd Still in excellent shape. I've trekked in the Kashmir region in the past. I'd been thinking it was time to let it go, b/c even when we go back to hillwalking and climbing, it will be as a family, not as the single girl I was.

Dug out the boxes from the ILs loft and gave it all away today to an Islamic charity. A North Face 'Cat's Meow' sleeping bag and down jacket, a Lowe Alpine three-man tent, Thermarests, my Mountain Light jacket, collapsible water containers, and MSR Whisperlight stove, Pur water filter, etc. Two boxes worth of equipment.

They start getting bad weather in October up there, and the nights are SO cold!

The conditions there can get bad even w/o this earthquake - the roads just turn to mud.

If you can't give money, if you have any tents or camping equipment you don't use or that's really extra, some people could really use it! Any mountain rescue equipment that's new - maybe you tried the sport and decided it wasn't for you - carabiners, torches, headtorches, rope, nylon webbing tape or cord, etc.

I think like most it has been so overwhelming this year so far, that while I'm very disturbed by it all, I don't really want to talk about it, IYSWIM.

I've bunged some more money into the DEF, but to be honest the giving money is becoming a bit 'empty'! Like - here have some dosh and now I can sleep easy while you weep over your tiny children!

Dear God it crap isn;t it

It's honestly the best, soapbox. They can use the money to source goods locally. If you want to buy something, however, tents are much in need. So are sleeping bags - particularly synthetic down b/c these can get wet and not entirely lose their insulating capability. Also open and closed cell sleeping matts. Camping stoves, spare parts for stoves, water purifiers, collapsible water containers, windproof fleece clothing - gloves, hats, jackets, etc.

I know expat - but it never feels enough

motherinferior, your DP must have been worried about the floods in Bangladesh last year as well. It is hard to comprehend the scale of these disasters.

I agree Blu. There's only so much you can say before it becomes meaningless in the light of some action. Sorry to hear about your worries MI too. Hope you're okay.x

I don't really understand the concept of compassion fatigue, and I don't think most British people do either, IMO they are among the most generous in the world and always the first to help.

But, WRT to the earthquake, there really isn't much to say except how sad and painful it is to watch and all we can do is donate. It is unbearable to think of all the people who haven't/won't be rescued, and to think of the survivors and the conditions they are enduring.

The reports I've seen do suggest that the Pakistani govt response has not been good enough.

"natural disasters" seem to happen so often now that im almost expecting the next...and that chills me to the bone in one way. i dont know if that makes sense at all...it doesnt mean i dont care, or feel, just that it doesnt seem to be a shock anymore, its happening so much

I never really take part in any of the 'disaster' threads anyway ... I find the news difficult enough to handle and find that pulling it to pieces and discussing it at length too much tbh. I am sorry if I offend anyone but I find it a bit similar to people slowing down at a road accident to see more or making a crowd around someone who is taken ill ...
THAT ISN'T DIRECTED AT ANYONE IN PARTICULAR BUT IS JUST THE REASON WHY I DON'T 'TALK' ABOUT THESE THINGS ....
I do my 'bit' though, so I don't bury my head in the sand about this sort of thing ... I give money to the Salvation Army on a regular basis (as donations AND to specific appeals like the tsunami appeal etc) because I think they do a fantastic job at being there on the spot within a very short time of any disaster happening.
I don't need to see parents carrying their dead children ... I can picture in my head without seeing it on the tv or in the paper ... it is real enough to me without the graphics.
I read somewhere not too long ago that this very graphic media coverage of things is causing people to suffer symptoms of trauma even if they are far away from the thing that happened ... I can understand that really.