Dr. Omar Elahi sits with local children in Balakot, Pakistan.
December 12, 2005: CMAT has learned of a new major quake in Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. Preliminary reports from CMAT field staff are that the quake was centered in a sparsely populated area in the Hindu-Kush Mountains with tremors felt from Rawalpindi and Islamabad, to Lahore. Muzzafferabad, epicenter of the devastating October 8 – 7.6 magnitude quake was largely spared, according to Dr. Omar Elahi, CMAT physician in a cell phone conversation from Abbotabad. Dr. Elahi, a Canadian citizen and resident of Toronto, has been assisting in the area since October 8 and survived the first quake himself after his dormitory collapsed.
