Today is National Resilience Day.

KP – AJK – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – Pakistan is commemorating National Resilience Day today to show support for the people who perished in the country’s 2005 earthquake.

In addition to causing extensive infrastructure damage, particularly in Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the earthquake claimed thousands of lives.

To show support and sympathy for the victims of the tragedy, various events are being planned across the nation, including in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake jolted Azad Kashmir and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 8:52 am on the morning of October 8, 2005. Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, was ground-zero in the catastrophic temblor.

The city and the entire region to Balakot was left virtually unrecognizable when the earth stopped shaking leaving over 80,000 people dead and thousands injured.

In Azad Kashmir, the day dawned with special prayers for the martyrs of the earthquake. Prayers were also made for the liberation of Indian occupied Kashmir.

Fateh Khawani and Quran Khawni are being offered for thousands of martyrs who lost their lives in the quake-hit districts of Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

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President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have reaffirmed the government’s vision to strengthen national capacity of disaster risk reduction and protecting vulnerable segments of society.

In their separate statements on the occasion of National Resilience Day being observed today, they paid tribute to the whole nation for recovering from the devastating earthquake of October 8, 2005 with courage and unity.

The President said over the years, Pakistan’s disaster management framework has made important strides with a state of the art National Emergencies Operation Center, harnessing advanced technology for early warning and risk assessment.