Kashmir and the surrounding area were hit by an earthquake today (yesterday, Indian time), causing devastation in three South Asian countries--India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The damage will be particularly hard to deal with because of the mountainous terrain and war-zone status of much of the region. The International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent will need our help, as will SEEDS India, an organization dedicated to disaster relief and disaster preparation. I would really love to get suggestions for other groups people think can help.
On Thursday night I went to the recovery2 meeting at Web 2.0 in San Francisco, on which I will write more shortly. One of the needs we talked about is the need to identify and work with community based organizations and NGOs and non-profits --documenting their needs and efficacy and donation-channels online--ahead of time so that concerned parties around the world can find them and quickly help them when disaster strikes. This is another sad example of why.
UPDATE: There is now a South Asian Quake Blog: http://quakehelp.blogspot.com. I'm helping with it and would really appreciate any tips and ideas you have. Kush Tandon has also pointed out that Oxfam is getting to work.
(posted using Anaconia's RocketPost.)
