Operation Maturin

On 8 Oct 2005, a 7.5 Magnitude earthquake within the Indus–Kohistan Seismic Zone of Pakistani administered Kashmir occurred, centred around Muzaffarabad (c 50nm NNE of Islamabad) which caused extensive damage and displaced millions from their homes.

By 13 Oct the UK had contributed to an advanced NATO party to coordinate the subsequent relief efforts. Initially this was by flying in ration packs and bottled water by RAF C-130 based in Afghanistan. An RAF C-17 lifted two civilian Pumas of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Islamabad from Seville on 17 Oct and this was followed by a deployment of 3 Chinooks from 27 Squadron, which began leaving from RAF Fairford on 22 Oct, also by C-17. The Chinooks returned to RAF Odiham on 5 Dec 2005.

In addition to the UK commitment, a major international relief effort was mounted. Chaklala airport in Islamabad was soon overwhelmed with apron space rapidly running out. Once NATO took over the air traffic control at Islamabad by week two, Airbridges to Chaklala were quickly established to bring in aid from 4 main distribution points:

• Kabul, where the majority of US aid arrived
• Bagram, the main source of US air assets
• Al Bateen, where the UAE was a major aid provider and an emergency destination for badly injured Pakistanis
• Incirlik, the main destination for European and NATO aid (eg from Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Turkey and the UK).

Depots were set up and a fleet of C-130 and Transalls ferried the aid in to Islamabad / Chaklala 24/7.

One notable feature of the relief effort was the development of 15 or so 4 person teams of Quake Jumpers at Abbottabad, who were helicoptered into remote Himalayan valley spurs and made contact with mountain communities cut off by landslides. They organised construction and maintenance of basic helipads, enabling the effective delivery of relief supplies to areas not reached by conventional aid workers.