Meditation Focus #138

Being All The Light That We Can Be



Hello!

What follows is the 138th Meditation Focus suggested for the next 2 weeks beginning Sunday, October 9, 2005.

BEING ALL THE LIGHT THAT WE CAN BE

1. Summary
2. Meditation times
3. More information related to this Meditation Focus
4. Request for loving assistance on behalf of earthquake victims in Pakistan

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN PASSING THIS ON TO OTHERS



1) SUMMARY

After being offered previously with three gifts — love, compassion and harmony — a fourth sage is stepping forward to also bring forward his invaluable contribution to humanity's global awakening.

At first there was Light. And then came all the various manifestations of Life, some of which eventually evolved enough to being able to express Love. Light, Life and Love form the eternally spiralling triangle of manifestation of the creative power of the Divine Creator. Because it was the first expression of the Presence inherent in All That is, Light is an unsurpassed spiritual force that can create, virtually out of nothing, all that your own creative imagination can conceive, provided you learn to trust, to have unremitting faith in its manifestive abilities. Once the floodgates of Light are opened in you and you accept to be intuitively guided to direct this force for the highest good of all, whenever a situation arises in which your brothers and sisters, or any other life form, need assistance, you become an instrument of the infinite benevolence of the Universal Being at the origin of your very existence.

By tuning into this universal field of Light, you turn yourself on and start radiating waves after waves of tingling, all-encompassing Light energies, and in so doing enable the creative process initiated aeons ago to further achieve its ever unfolding plan for spiritual enlightenment of all souls and all living matter, inanimate or not. Through embodying this essence that is the very nature of All That is in everything, you re-ignite within you the Sacred Flame of Oneness and thus contribute to spread in every human being the inner knowledge that all are inseparable aspects of the same Universal Presence. You also catalyze the healing of the rift that has grown over millennia of embodiment in the matrix of physical experiencing, and thus help bring humanity ever closer to recognizing its oneness with all Life and its everlasting communion with the Source of all Light.

As you join in synchronous meditation with all other participants, worldwide, simply Be All The Light That You Can Be, for the Highest Good of All.

This whole Meditation Focus has been archived for your convenience at http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus138.htm

To review the previous three Meditation Focus of this 20 week series, please go at
http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus135.htm
http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus136.htm
http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus137.htm




I am.
I am one.
One with all.
All that is,
All that lives.
One am I,
With all that is.

We are the Light,
The Light of this World.
We are the Light,
The Light of this World.
We are the Light of this World.
And we are one.

We are one
One with all.
And we want to be free.
We want to be free
Free to be in love,
Free to be in love with all that is.

We are the Light,
The Light of this World.
We are the Light,
The Light of this World.
We are the Light of this World.
And we are one.

There is a place to go to find peace,
R e m e m b e r....
There is a place to go to find love.
S u r r e n d e r....
Open your heart,
Open your heart into Forever
F o r e v e r , F o r e v e r,
And you shall be free...

We are the Light,
The Light of this World.
We are the Light,
The Light of this World.
We are the Light of this World.,
And we are one.
And we are free.

We are the Light,
The light of this World

Lyrics by Constance Demby

Taken from http://www.constancedemby.com/light_f.html


2. MEDITATION TIMES

i) Global Meditation Day: Sunday at 16:00 Universal Time (GMT) or at noon local time. Suggested duration: 30 minutes. Please dedicate the last few minutes of your Sunday meditation BOTH to the healing of the Earth as a whole and to reiterate our willingness and desire - if we so choose - to receive http://www.aei.ca/~cep/MeditationFocus120.htm assistance from our space family in order to help set things on a path towards a new era of global peace, love and harmony for all. See the Earth as healthy and vibrant with life, and experience the healing of all relations as we awaken globally to the sacredness of all Life and to our underlying unity with All That Is.

ii) Golden Moment of At-Onement: Daily, at the top of any hour, or whenever it better suits you.

These times below will correspond, this Sunday October 9, to 16:00 Universal Time/GMT:

Honolulu 6:00 AM -- Anchorage * 8:00 AM -- Los Angeles * 9:00 AM -- Mexico City, San Salvador & Denver * 10:00 AM -- Houston * & Chicago * 11:00 AM -- Santo Domingo, La Paz, Caracas, New York *, Toronto *. Montreal *, Asuncion & Santiago 12:00 AM -- Halifax *, Rio de Janeiro & Montevideo 1:00 PM -- Reykjavik & Casablanca 4 PM -- Lagos, Algiers, London *, Dublin * & Lisbon * 5:00 PM -- Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Geneva *, Rome *, Berlin *, Paris * & Madrid * 6:00 PM -- Ankara *, Athens *, Helsinki * & Istanbul * & Nairobi 7:00 PM -- Baghdad *, Moscow * 8:00 PM -- Tehran * 8:30 PM -- Islamabad 9:00 PM -- Calcutta & New Delhi 9:30 PM -- Dhaka 10:00 PM -- Rangoon 10:30 PM -- Hanoi, Bangkok & Jakarta 11:00 PM -- Hong Kong, Perth, Beijing & Kuala Lumpur +12:00 PM -- Seoul & Tokyo +1:00 AM -- Brisbane, Canberra & Melbourne +2:00 AM -- Wellington +4:00 AM

+ means the place is one day ahead of Universal Time/Greenwich Mean Time.

* means the place is observing daylight saving time (DST) at the moment.

You may also check at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?day=09&month=10&year=2005&hour=16&min=0&sec=0&p1=0 to find your corresponding local time for tomorrow if a nearby city is not listed above.



3. MORE INFORMATION RELATED TO THIS MEDITATION FOCUS

The following suggested material may assist you in threading the consciousness path that can help bring you to a space of perfect balance, vital co-creativity and greater inner harmony.

CONTENTS

1. The importance of allowing the Light to flow through you
2. Learn to Love Better - The Choir of Light

See also:

The Healing Power of Light
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/connect_20021106.shtml
Light extends its power to touch all of us - Quentin Cooper asks what it is about light in all its forms that not only cures disease, but is essential in keeping us healthy and happy. Light is special - it connects all material things. For the physicist, light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum whose energies continually surround and penetrate all living beings - a spectrum which stretches from the powerline frequencies near one end to X rays near the other. For the biologist it is light which gives plants the energy to convert carbon dioxide into glucose and release the oxygen which gives us life. Light is what makes us seasonal creatures. In autumn and winter we become ill more frequently - because we are starved of light. Winter also deprives the immune system of what is now understood to be its crucial fuel and the less of it we get, the fewer the electron-charged bio-photons moving through us, the less well our cells interact, and the more sludged up and illness prone we become. Light extends its power to touch all of us - sunlight, polarised light, UV light, flickering light, laser light, LED’s, white light, coloured light - all these are now being used to cure cancer, TB, hepatitis and pneumonia as well as a range of viral diseases and psychological disorders. As winter approaches and the access to natural light decreases, Quentin Cooper examines how science and technology is helping to utilise this powerful natural drug, and asks what it is about light in all its forms that not only cures disease, but is essential in keeping us healthy and happy.



1.

Recommended by "Adi Gaia" adigaia@moose-mail.com>

The importance of allowing the Light to flow through you

Greetings to you light workers. Love and light from the divine creator charges my being and I express this love through each and every word.

The creator also charges your own being with love and light. In order to truly receive this energy you must be open, willing and ready to receive such divine bliss. It is a constant flow from the creator which we can all receive. To receive divine energy from the creator allows guidance and inspiration to flow into your everyday life.

Why is it important to allow the light and love of the creator to flow into our being and into our lives? This is a question that I hear many beings ask.

It is of such importance that words cannot state or express. Allowing the energy of the creator to flow into your life allows you to receive the guidance that we all yearn for in our life, it also gives us access to a great source of spiritual wisdom.

Filling our body with light each day nourishes our soul and strengthens our physical body so that it remains healthy, free from injury and illness. Our soul loves to be bathed in light because it reminds it of home which brings it immense joy and happiness. Radiating this energy from within allows us to cleanse any negativity from our being and to glow with health and vitality.

The creator constantly sends us golden and white light, all we must do is to open our crown chakra (which is at the very top of our head) and encourage this energy to flow into our body. This is of aid because you will now have a continuous connection with the divine source. This is most important of all. We are all a part of the divine source; all souls are connected to become one. All souls are united as one with the creator. To be in constant contact with the source allows the universal life force of love and light to flow into your life and your being. We have been parted with the great soul in order to enter and experience this planet allowing us to grow spiritually before returning. The great soul that I speak of has many names: God, the Source or the Creator to name but a few.

I ask you each day for your own benefit to sit quietly and to allow the great soul to pour into your crown chakra his golden, white light. Allow it to fill your body and your aura, bathe in this glorious light. Imagine yourself glowing and ask this energy to continue flowing throughout your day. Know that as you become a being of light once more that you are protected by your guides and the angels of protection.

This may be a common practice for some of you already but I feel the need to remind you that you are a light being living in a physical body. This is something we must all remember as we travel through this heavy, physical and sometimes dark journey of life.

Bless you my light beings. Djwhal Khul Blessings and light my dear, blessings and light.



2.

Recommended by Steve Marsden steve@mailmontage.com>

From: http://www.freyaray.com/learntolovebetter.html

Learn to Love Better - The Choir of Light

Through Freya Ray

Today we would like to speak to you of love. There are many different ways in which we love each other, many different types of relationships. As you are aware, much of why you incarnate on the Earth plane is to learn how to love better. And although inevitably, in a remarkable reverse entropy effect, the sum total of love in the universe is always increasing, as each of you inches back towards the unity you once knew, despite all this there is much you can do to love each other better.

Love Yourself

Start with yourself. The first thing you must know is that your only shot at happiness lies through loving yourself for who you are. We are not encouraging you to continue trying to live up to some plastic, marketable image of who you should be. Even if you do manage to somehow change yourself into what others think you ought to be, you will still have the self-loathing inside saying, "Who I am was not good enough. I had to become something else." This is not necessary, and only prevents true happiness.

Instead, learn to love yourself for who you are. Your true character, full of imperfections, is your only fortress. The first step is to know yourself, the second step to accept yourself. Only then will you be able to extend the hand of true love to your own self, and walk with pride and joy.

Please recognize that the answer is very simple: everything you seek lies inside yourself. Your ship has come in, and it resides within. When we say "there is no separation," these are not empty syllables. This means that it makes no difference whether you pray to God, your Guides, or yourself, for it is all one. All beauty resides in you, for you are part of God's creation. When you feel you are lacking or unlovable, you are trying to say that an aspect of God is lacking or unlovable. This is simply impossible. It is not bad of you to believe it, there is no smiting about to happen because of this mistake, but it is not true.

You must make a break from what the media tells you. We see very clearly from here, how your images of yourselves are shaped by a constant comparison between your own self and your own life, and the false ideals held up by "popular culture." You may feel it doesn't affect you, but it does. When you expose yourself to a homogenous message day after day, eventually it affects your psyche and your ability to love yourself. We recommend taking a break from all sources of information that do not help you in your quest for true self-acceptance. Turn off your television, make paper mache projects with the newspaper, but don't keep telling yourself how you don't measure up.

The fact of the matter is, that every soul is here on a unique mission. Not all souls are supposed to experience riches, or physical beauty, or career success, or achieve enlightenment. Each lifetime is different, with different goals. Some people have come here to take a break after a very difficult series of lives, and will look like "slackers" to those who have come here to tackle a more challenging goal. There is no way for your media to support your own particular life lesson. Let it go for a while, so you may hear your own inner voice.

Focus on your evolution. If your life feels stagnant, take an inventory. What have you accomplished? What are you already good at? What might be the next step, on the path of your life? Push yourself to reach for the next lesson, the next goal. It's a cliché, but it's almost always true: if you've learned all you came to Earth to learn, you'd be dead. Evolution. What next? Only by continuing to learn and grow will you be able to hang onto your love of self. Your perfection is not stagnant. Do you see? You are perfect, and your perfection is change. Each atom vibrates, each cell grows and dies, each thought shifts and changes. Direct the course of your change towards a goal you cherish, and you will continue to embrace your feelings of self-love.

Love a Partner

Whether you currently have a partner or not, our suggestion is the same. Be confident of your own gifts, and feel free to express them. You love the friend who makes fun of their own foibles - give yourself permission to do the same. Expressing your uniqueness is the key to attracting and keeping true love.

Secondly, you must let go of your old fears. Hanging onto the past cripples you in the present. You heal, you grow, you change, and eventually you will break the patterns of your past. Then you must believe that you are free of them. If you have been lied to in the past, and you continue to live in fear of lies from a partner, it will make you watchful and suspicious. Your own mistrust will create an environment where your partner finds themselves lying, just to avoid your inquisition. A fear of abandonment will make you cling, which will drive your partner away. Make sense? Each old fear holds the seeds of its current reappearance.

Instead, release the past. It has no power over you. It is gone. There is no reason to expect that the old hurts will occur again. Their power to hurt you lies only in your mind, and if you release them then you are whole.

Safeguard wisely the love that is given to you. In this modern age, everything seems to be disposable and replaceable. This is not true of love. Some relationships are not meant to last, but more of them could than do. If you've been offered love, accept it if you can, treasure it, examine it carefully before you stamp it "return to sender." Work to interpret gestures in the most charitable light - perhaps that thing that is angering you was done out of love. Look for the love.

Love Your Family

Your family has damaged you. Everyone's family does. This is not news, or we wouldn't have a need for the fleet of mental health professionals out there. The thing that may be news to you, is that the pain, the damage, the tears, are the things from which your beauty blooms. For almost all of you, you are contrary creatures: you must experience deprivation in order to appreciate abundance. But more than that - you must be tempered in order to be strong. The things that brought you the most hurt will transform themselves into your greatest gifts if you let them.

The survivor of abuse is the most passionate crusader against it. The one who has transcended poverty is the most aware of the programs needed to combat it. Obviously this is a simplification, but take notice of this type of pattern in your own life. Honestly, where were you most hurt earlier in your life? How has this shaped you? What strength has it brought you? How can you let it inform the rest of your life, so that you are more loving to others?

Forgiving one's family for damage done is a difficult challenge. Taking your power back, owning the gifts you have received from your family whether they were painfully given or not, is an important step. If it's shaped you, and you can see what a gift it is now, and on a soul level you know why you chose to enter into those circumstances, well, it's harder to hold a grudge.

In terms of loving your family better, now is a very good time to take a mental step back, and meditate on the connections. With family, the energies are not really there for getting more enmeshed at this time. The energies are supporting your clarity, seeing the ways in which you and your family members relate. Visualize the connections between you and each of your family members. See the cords between you. Are they tenuous or strong? Are they smooth or knotted? Are they frayed, glowing, sticky, what? In your meditation, repair any lines that need work. Open yourself to information about how this repair should manifest in regular life. Then make those changes, so your relationships run more smoothly and equitably.

Also, take a look for ways in which you and your family members can work together. Are there business adventures you can take together? Craft projects? Family trips? Anything you do together that is exciting for everyone involved is a good idea at this time. Not just the same old grind of habitual encounters, but rather a more conscious co-creation of shared life.

Love Your Community

A community is an organism which is only in balance when each member does their part. If you don't already know, find out what is your part. It would also help to find out who is your community! Look around you at the people who populate your days. Which ones are you glad of? Which ones do you know will be there for you in times of trouble? Which ones would you like to be more connected to? A community lives because the people in it take care of each other. There is no other definition. So decide who you want to have as part of your extended family, and take care of them. Make sure you let them take care of you in return.

Many of you are not speaking out as you should. Other people cannot speak for you. You must not allow them to. You must not allow only the power-hungry and the petty to have political power. It is time to run for office, speak out in public forums, exercise your voices! Look at your media - spiritual information is appearing more regularly in many forums, metaphysical books sell more copies than ever before. Instead of letting this popularity of consciousness disempower you, by saying "Oh, it's all good, someone else has it covered, positive change is coming," use it to free you to speak out. Ride the crest of the wave, rather than hiding behind it hoping it creates a beach you want to live on. Speak out!

Allow for your moods in this. Try to build in some flexibility. Life requires attention to many things, and your community is just one of them. Give your energy passionately when it is time for that, but do not commit yourself at your peak level. Commit yourself somewhere in the middle, so you still have time for yourself.

Love Your Ancestors

In this culture, many times there is not enough emphasis given to the ancestors. They would like to speak to you today. They wish to remind you that they sacrificed themselves for your freedom. You exist today because they worked hard yesterday. And they did it in the pursuit of freedom. They worked so you would have more choices than they did.

Part of your debt to your ancestors, your responsibility to them, is balancing out the old imbalances. If there is a history of financial chaos in your lineage, it may fall to you to find financial stability. If there is a history of abuse, it falls to you to heal it. They gave you life! To pay them back, heal whatever you can. When you heal it inside yourself, send that energy back along your lineage and it provides healing there as well.

Your ancestors connect to your energy body. The paternal lineage extends in a line behind you, on the right side, connecting at the "wing spot" on your shoulder blade. The maternal lineage extends back on the left side. Together they make a "V" going up and back behind you. You receive energy, support, and wisdom from these lineages all the time. The clearer you can make the line, the more balanced your own energy will become, and the stronger you will be.

Do a meditation where you focus on these lines of connection, seeing the energies of your ancestors behind you. Travel back until you see a blockage in the flow of love and wisdom. It may start in the first generation for most of you. Work with that connection until it is smooth and clear. Then continue back. Do one thing at a time, so you do not become overwhelmed.

You will be surprised by the power of this exercise. Your ancestors are there to support you, as you are the whole reason they existed now. You are the fruit of their labors. It is a two-way street, though, and as you send healing energy back, you receive it as well.

Our overall suggestion for you today is to trust yourselves. Follow your own inner guidance. Let it lead you to love, lead you to new emotional beginnings. There is a path through every darkness. You know the way to the light. Trust your heart.

---

Freya Ray, PO Box 99341, Seattle, WA 98139, (206) 276-4290
http://www.freyaray.com

Several other articles by Freya Ray at http://www.freyaray.com/writings.html



4) Request for loving assistance on behalf of earthquake victims in Pakistan

Date: 8 Oct 2005
From: Lea wayoftheheart@yahoo.com>
Subject: Pakistan

Dear Family,

Today we are seeing and feeling the earth's stronger clearing in the Middle East. As I write there have taken place today 19 earthquakes in the Pakistan-India border region, two of which are greater than 6.0. The souls that have departed are loved by families left behind, and are being loved and nurtured even now.

We have known that the Earth's need to cleanse the embedded conflicting energies of humanity is and will continue to take place. As we delve into our own knowing, our individual heart's expression, may we also acknowledge that these souls are part of our family, our global community. The land they reside upon is also our land. Their experiences are our experiences and their pain is ours.

I ask that each who resonate with this message make time within this and the coming days to hold this active area and all life within and upon it in LOVE. Love is the strongest energy, and collectively we can and do create harmony from chaos. Let who we are shine in this moment of compassion.

Within each of us is a strength that surpasses any challenge presented to us. As a global family of heart, these challenges will continue, yet will be met with strength, kindness and understanding.

Join me in being the love you are, extending the love outward and healing what is presented.

With Blessings to All,

Lea

~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~
Rev. Lea Greer M.Div.
New Mexico
wayoftheheart@yahoo.com

When we choose to listen to our Voice within the Heart, wondrous realizations of universality begin to surface. We then no longer feel repressed by the world; rather, we discover that all life is within us.

---

CONTENTS

1. Quake toll rises to 18,000 in worst-hit Pakistan
2. World cranks into gear to help quake-striken South Asia
3. Annan 'deeply saddened' by South Asia earthquake
4. Kashmir - in the heart of a dangerous earthquake zone

See also:

Why animals are quick on the quake (OCTOBER 09, 2005)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1257083.cms
Offer Predicting earthquakes is still a bumbling unglamorous science among humans, but animals are increasingly being celebrated in this matter. After every major quake, along with the aftershocks come stories of strange animal behaviour. Birds are agitated, horses kick furious and during the recent tsunami, elephants in Sri Lanka were reported to have made sounds that they were never thought to be capable of, and there are even eye witnesses of past quakes who say that hens abruptly stop hatching. China is particularly serious about the powers of animals in predicting earthquakes. In fact, a zoo in the Liaoning province monitors animal behaviour and reports unusual activity to the seismology department. But the ability of animals to physically sense tremors long before humans is only grudgingly accepted by science. Needless to say, science has dismissed the inevitable claims that animals possess paranormal capabilities, like the insistence of many dog owners that their pets always know when they are about to reach home, or stories of dogs that have successfully found their masters graves. CLIP

Major World Earthquakes in Past 50 Years (October 8) http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20051008/ap_on_re_as/quakes_glance_2

Full Coverage: S. Asian Earthquake
http://tinyurl.com/9yxwk



1.

From: http://tinyurl.com/c2pup

Quake toll rises to 18,000 in worst-hit Pakistan

MANSEHRA, Pakistan (Reuters) - The death toll from a huge south Asia earthquake rose to 18,000 in worst-hit Pakistan alone on Sunday, as rescuers dug out hundreds of dead children buried under their schools and found villages reduced to rubble.
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Teams laboured with cranes and earth-moving equipment or used their bare hands in hopes of finding survivors trapped beneath shattered masonry from Saturday's quake.

Striking out from the forest clad mountains of Pakistani Kashmir near the border with India, the quake was the strongest to hit south Asia in a century.

"When the earthquake came it was like Judgment Day," said villager Fazal Elahi, recalling the horror of houses collapsing around him as he grieved quietly next to the body of his 14-year-old daughter.

A Pakistani military official said 18,000 were dead, confirming a figure given to CNN by President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan.

A further 40,000 people were injured in the 7.6 magnitude quake that struck nearly 24 hours ago, Sultan said, calling it the worst devastation in Pakistan's history.

"There are many villages that have been wiped off the face of this earth," Sultan said.

Pakistan's side of Kashmir, the Himalayan region disputed with India, was expected to be worst hit.

Many areas had not been reached because landslides triggered by the quake had wiped out roads, Sultan said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor occurred at a depth of 10 km. It struck about 95 km northeast of Islamabad and was felt across the subcontinent, shaking buildings in the Afghan, Indian and Bangladeshi capitals.

The first quake was followed over the next 18 hours by more than 20 aftershocks with magnitudes of between 4.5 and 6.3.

SCHOOLS CRUSHED

Some 400 children were killed at two schools in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

Damage in Pakistani Kashmir's main city, Muzaffarabad, was believed to be severe.

"Indications are that almost 50 percent of the homes have been destroyed," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told BBC World television, referring to Muzaffarabad and neighbouring towns.

Private Geo TV reported that some of Muzaffarabad's main buildings, including a military hospital, had been destroyed, and that injured people were lying in the courtyard of the one working hospital waiting for attention from doctors struggling to cope.

A military spokesman said 215 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the hardest-hit areas.

Indian Kashmir was also battered by the earthquake. Police said more than 300 people had been killed and hundreds injured.

Half of the Indian deaths were in Uri, the last big town on the road connecting the two sides of the violence-scarred region. The dead included 15 soldiers, some in bunkers close to a military ceasefire line.

Landslides blocked the 300-km (190-mile) road that connects Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, to the rest of India to the south. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road linking Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, reopened to traffic this year for the first time in nearly 60 years, was also blocked.

Ghulam Rashool, an official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said it was the strongest earthquake in South Asia since the 1905 Kangra earthquake that killed 20,000 people in India's Madhya Pradesh state.

In the Pakistani capital Islamabad, 82 survivors were recovered from two multi-storey apartment blocks that were reduced to rubble. A government official said rescuers also found 14 bodies, including those of at least three foreigners, an Egyptian and two Japanese.

Pledges of aid from around the world came within hours.

President George W. Bush said U.S. aid was on the way and Britain said it was sending search and rescue experts, sniffer dogs and aid workers.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan sent condolences to Pakistan, and a U.N. Disaster and Coordination Team in Geneva was on standby to be deployed. Oxfam and other aid agencies planned to coordinate their response with the United Nations.

Turkey, which has suffered major earthquakes in the past, said it had sent two military planes carrying aid, doctors and rescue workers. Japan sent a team of 49 aid workers.

In a further sign of easing tension between India and Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to offer assistance.



2.

From: http://tinyurl.com/7wczp

World cranks into gear to help quake-striken South Asia

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Rescue experts, medical teams, sniffer dogs and supplies are being mobilised as a worldwide effort cranked into gear to bring aid to victims of a massive earthquake that struck South Asia.
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Japan, the United States and the European Union were among the first to offer manpower and financial aid to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan following Saturday's quake, which is believed to have killed more than 18,000 people.

Pakistan appears to have been worst hit and the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Tokyo had sent a 50-strong emergency relief team to the Islamic republic.

In Britain, which has a large South Asian community, the government said it was sending an initial allocation of 100,000 pounds (176,000 dollars) to Pakistani authorities.

Search and rescue teams from four firefighting forces across Britain were also headed to the region and Defence Secretary John Reid said British troops in Afghanistan were "ready to assist if required".

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the dispatch of up to 60 British staff was an initial offering. British Muslim charities have also pledged hundreds of thousands of pounds in aid.

Additional search and rescue teams were also being sent from France, Turkey -- which itself is prone to violent earthquakes -- Greece and Switzerland.

The Japanese team included police, disaster management and coast guard specialists whose skills have been honed dealing with the country's regular temblors.

They would be engaged in search and rescue operations as well as information gathering, the ministry said in a statement.

The Japanese Red Cross was also sending four medical specialists to Islamabad as an advance team to investigate the extent of the damage caused by the quake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale.

Shortly after news of the tragedy began filtering out of the region, European ministers offered financial aid as well as rescue teams.

The European Union's executive arm said it had set aside three million euros (3.6 million dollars) of immediate emergency relief aid.

"We are all hoping that the news does not get steadily worse ... but we are fearful that the casualty figures may mount," said EU aid commissioner Louis Michel.

Paris was sending sniffer dogs and cutting gear, while the Irish government said it would provide one million euros to the relief effort.

Berlin said it had made 50,000 euros available to Pakistani authorities through its embassy in Islamabad.

The United States was swift to offer help and President George W. Bush said Washington was already mobilising teams of experts to help the rescue effort and also made available 100,000 dollars in immediate emergency aid.

CLIP



3.

From: http://tinyurl.com/dh6k6

Annan 'deeply saddened' by South Asia earthquake

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Kofi Annan expressed deep sadness at the death and destruction caused by the major earthquake that struck South Asia Saturday, while the world body rushed an emergency team to Pakistan.
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"We know that every hour counts in an earthquake of this magnitude and the United Nations is ready to assist the country affected in any possible manner," UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland said in a statement.

The eight-member United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team will arrive in Islamabad early Sunday and will assist with ongoing assessment and coordination work, in response to a request made by the government of Pakistan, the UN said.

Annan said he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction" caused by the earthquake, his spokesman said in a statement.

Annan "extends his sincere condolences to all the victims and their families," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was in contact with the affected countries' governments to determine how the world body can help relief and rescue efforts, and subsequent recovery and reconstruction, Dujarric said.

OCHA has already released a 100,000 dollar emergency cash grant for immediate delivery of relief aid.

UNICEF also rushed assistance to Pakistan.

"Children in the affected areas will be vulnerable to hunger, cold, illness, and trauma," UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said. "Getting immediate life-saving relief into the region will be our priority for the next hours and days, even as the search and rescue effort goes on."

Hours after the quake struck, UNICEF began moving supplies from a Karachi warehouse into the affected region. They include blankets, clothing, tents, emergency medical supplies, food for infants, and water purification tablets.

Teams will be deployed into the countryside from UNICEF's Peshawar office early Sunday as part of a joint UN response team, UNICEF said.

"This is more sad news in a year that has seen more than enough already," Veneman said. "We are very concerned about children in the affected areas of Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. We'll do whatever we can to help them, their families, and their governments."

More than 3,000 people have been confirmed dead after a massive earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale shook parts of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, flattening houses and sweeping whole villages away.

The epicentre struck close to the dividing line between Indian and Pakistani controlled zones of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, but the quake was felt hundreds of kilometres (miles) away in Afghanistan's Kunduz mountains.



4.

From: http://tinyurl.com/dovce

Kashmir - in the heart of a dangerous earthquake zone

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Kashmir is well known as a high-risk area for earthquakes and Saturday's 7.6-magnitude temblor came after warnings that seismic activity there seemed to be on the rise.
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Seismologists have long considered the disputed Himalayan region to be a danger area like other parts of India such as Gujarat in the west where more than 20,000 people lost their lives in 2001.

Kashmir lies in the collision area of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates which formed the mighty Himalayas 50 million years ago and are now responsible for yearly earthquakes that often cause widespread devastation.

Measuring the tremendous stresses below the surface, experts in recent years have noted an increase in the seismic activity of the plates under Kashmir.

Scientists have voiced fears that major earthquakes could occur in Kashmir as well as the states of Uttaranchal and Nagaland, which also skirt the southern fringe of the Himalayas further to the east.

Such research has led to calls for housing construction methods that have remained virtually unchanged for generations to be upgraded in the region to make them more resilient to earthquakes.

Much of Kashmir is a very poor area, not helped by a separatist insurgency in the Indian-held zone that has raged since 1989 and has left more than 44,000 people dead.

Many buildings are four or five stories in height, constructed of soft clay, and due to the high volume of earthquakes over the centuries, the Kashmiri people have learned to some extent to live with them.

While geographical statistics show that almost 54 percent of India's land is vulnerable to earthquakes, Indian-administered Kashmir lies closer to the fault line of the tectonic plates where the most severe quakes are to be expected.

The region, along with other areas in the western and central Himalayas, falls into the most severe Zone V category of earthquake risk, one more than the notorious Kutch region of Gujarat province.

More than 20,000 people were killed and a string of towns and cities in Gujarat suffered massive damage when an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale slammed the state on January 26, 2001.

Experts have already warned that Kashmir and the surrounding area should expect aftershocks to be experienced in the coming days.



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