On 12 November 2017 (local time), a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Iraq and Iran, near the border between the two countries. Approximately 1.8 million people live within 100 km of the epicentre of the quake [1]. The quake killed 530 people and injured over 8,000 people [2].
Though the quake caused lesser deaths and injuries in Iraq, there were widespread destruction of houses, health facilities, and infrastructure. Rescue, relief, and recovery work has been hampered by landslides, destroyed water, electricity and communications networks, and an ongoing series of aftershocks.
Security is based on people’s welfare and not on military annihilation, UN said, marking the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and later Nagasaki which together killed more than 400,000 people. ‘We are united in countering the erroneous view that security is achieved through the pursuit of military dominance and threats of mutual annihilation,’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony. There is a ‘surge of new interest’ in nuclear disarmament based largely on an increasing awareness of the horrific humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. UN has made nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation a top priority. Disarmament frees up resources which could be channelled to address major global threats, including poverty, hunger and disease.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by the General Assembly in September 1996 but has not yet entered into force. China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States have yet to ratify it. [UN News]
Pray for Global Nuclear Disarmament:
Pray that the governments of the nations will put all their efforts to improve the people’s welfare and create the peaceful atmosphere. Pray that they will give up the military competition and nuclear weapons.
Pray that the UN can rope in the nations to sign, ratify and implement the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
