In pictures: Earthquake Hits Pakistan-India Border
-
Helicopter earthquake missions
Introduction
Helicopters are playing a vital role in the relief operation after last week's earthquake centred in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
It's dangerous work, one helicopter has already crashed killing all on board. And bad weather has left them grounded at times.
Chaklala airbase at the garrison city of Rawalpindi bursts into activity at 0630 every day.
The helicopter operation has already saved thousands of lives, the army says.
Text, photos: Aamer Ahmed Khan -
Ahead of time
The soldiers have a maximum of 25 minutes to load relief supplies.
The job is usually done well ahead of time and the helicopters are packed to capacity. -
International effort
By sunrise, only a few out of the 50-odd helicopters at Pakistan's disposal remain on the ground.
It is an international effort. As well as the Pakistani helicopters, there are Chinooks and Blackhawks from the United States and other helicopters from Afghanistan, France and the International Committee of the Red Cross. -
Jammed roads
This photo illustrates just why the helicopters are so important.
Many roads have been destroyed. Those still open, like this one, are often still jammed with traffic, leaving the helicopters as the fastest and most effective vehicles of delivering relief. -
Shelter and cold
From the air, makeshift encampments have become a familiar sight all over the quake-hit zone.
Perhaps these survivors are the lucky ones. Many others have no shelter and cold is becoming the biggest danger now. -
Army hit
Because of Pakistan and India's bitter disputer over Kashmir, this is a heavily militarised area.
Military installations like this one have been as badly hit as the civilian towns and villages.
There have been no official statements on how many soldiers were killed in the earthquake. -
Despair
Whenever things go wrong in this region, civilians look to the army for help.
This mother was one of many displaced villagers left in despair when they came to the military camp for help, only to find it in ruins. -
Too dangerous
The helicopters are busy doing whatever they can, hovering from one village to the next to drop blankets and tents.
Sometimes villagers are so desperate for supplies they stand underneath the helicopter, trying to catch the drop. That makes it too dangerous to go ahead with the drop. -
Multiple fractures
They land wherever they can, picking up the critically injured like this woman who is suffering multiple fractures. -
Makeshift
Here an American pilot examines his machine.
The injured are brought either to the makeshift relief base in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir or taken to Rawalpindi. -
Sunset
It is exhausting work.
The pilots repeat this cycle several times in a day, before returning to Chaklala at sunset. -
Relief in Kalgai tent city
As relief efforts throughout the quake region gather pace, Matt Brandon, who works as a tour operator in Indian-administered Kashmir, travelled to Kalgai, which has become one of the "tent cities" for survivors made homeless by the quake. He sent these photographs to the BBC News website. -
Kalgai tent city was set up by India's Border Security Force about 5km from the village of Uri. Here, Zubar Ahmed Mir, tries out his new home. -
Nahima (foreground left), was under the rubble of her home for 15 minutes while her brother and sisters pulled her out. The rest were safe in the kitchen as the house fell down around them. -
In Julla, in the district of Uri, men wait patiently for relief to arrive. The road that runs past Julla leads to the devastated town of Muzaffarabad in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. -
Saima, a three-year-old Pahadi girl, sits in front of her two-man pup tent waiting for relief. Pup tents are wedge-shaped structures erected with rope and canvas. As winter draws closer on the Kashmiri mountains, hardier tents will be required. -
A group of volunteers from Srinagar arrived with a truckload of relief supplies. The road beyond Kalgai is the only route to some of the badly damaged villages on the way to Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Here, the Border Security Force helps distribute the goods. -
Many days after the earthquake, this is the only relief to come to the eight villages of the Balkote cell of Uri. Rice and flour is distributed, which will feed the new inhabitants of Kalgai tent city. -
South Asia quake: 12 days on
Kashmiris try to keep going amid the rubble of their destroyed city, Bagh in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, 12 days after the area's massive earthquake. -
Local people, like these outside a damaged mosque in Bagh, are still looking for the bodies of loved ones amid the wreckage. -
In the village of Dildaar in Indian-administered Kashmir, a girl waits while her family tries to rebuild its home. -
The UN says the relief operation is proving a "logistical nightmare". Many people, like Niaz Mohammed and his injured daughter Beenish, are still awaiting evacuation. -
The US military is helping move people away from the quake zone, including this injured girl, being transferred by helicopter from Muzaffarabad to Islamabad. -
There is still a desperate shortage of aid supplies to many areas. These Kashmiri women wait for assistance on a roadside in the remote town of Sudhan Gali, about 200km from Islamabad. -
In Balakot, Pakistani-run Kashmir, people queue up to get relief goods.