In the first of many articles to be published over coming issues of CRJ, we provide basic information on the devastating earthquake that struck Pakistan, India and Afghanistan in October. Here, John Holland of RAPID-UK gives us a detailed account of rescues in two collapsed tower blocks in Islamabad. On Saturday, October 8 at 08:50 an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the northern region of Pakistan. With the epicentre 65 NNE of Islamabad city and at a shallow depth of 16 miles, the destructive power was going to be felt over a large area. RAPID-UK’s Operational Director received a call during the early hours of Saturday. Immediate information gathering and to assessment of the logistics required to despatch a team to the area began. Due to the worsening situation in Pakistan and a steady rise in the death toll, RAPID sent a liaison officer to the Pakistan High Commission to follow up the offer and to get authority to deploy. Photo courtesy of author The full version of text appears in Volume 2 Issue 1 of Crisis Response Journal Click here for further details