Tsunami aid effort holds lessons for Pakistan

One struck near the roof of the world, the other at the bottom of the sea, but an unprecedented aid effort after the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami has lessons for Pakistan's catastrophe, aid experts said.

The geography could not be more different - the 9.15 magnitude earthquake on December 26 spawned a tsunami that swamped tropical coasts, while Saturday's quake destroyed Himalayan villages - but the aid effort in both disasters have similar challenges.

The tsunami quickly became the most reported and well-funded disaster in history. Over 200 humanitarian organisations, along with 3,000 troops from a dozen countries, arrived to offer aid.

"Nearly everyone could hire a helicopter or boat, make their own needs assessments and distributions, and "fly the flag'," the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a recent report.

"Rivalries between agencies, competing to spend unprecedented budgets, did not encourage information sharing," it said.

With roads, bridges and ports destroyed, military aircraft was the primary conduit for tsunami aid. Coordination between civil and military agencies was not good, the IFRC said.

Those are key lessons for Pakistan, whose military is leading the aid effort after Saturday's 7.6 magnitude quake, experts said.

As in the December 26 tsunami, the initial response after the Pakistan quake has come most quickly from volunteers, said Gary Walker, spokesman for Plan International, an aid group working in both Asian disasters.

"Somebody drove up with 50 tents; 24 doctors left their jobs in Karachi to come here and used their own money to buy medical supplies," said Mr Walker, speaking by telephone from Mansehra city, near the epicentre of Saturday's earthquake.