UN: Mid East Quake - Biggest disaster ever!

Homeless Pakistanis sit beside their collapsed house in Balakot

The devastating earthquake in the mountainous regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan has slipped relatively unnoticed from the public eye. Today the UN warned of an unbelievable catastrophe, as winter begins to set in, and relief donations have been slow in coming.

Over 3 million people have been made homeless - some villages are already dipping into sub-zero temperatures at night, and snow is beginning to fall. With no shelter and no heat, UNICEF says 10,000 children will die from hunger, hypothermia, and illness in the coming weeks.

Relief efforts have been hindered by lack of (and lackluster) international support and donations.

"We are humanitarians, we don't know how to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people in the Himalayas. But the most efficient military alliance in the world should be able to," he said.

"The tsunami-affected areas were on the coast so we could reach them by boat. The high altitude means helicopters must carry reduced loads," Mia Turner of the world food programme told Reuters.

In Balakot quake survivors have started to burn donated clothing for heating as temperatures dropped.

Guardian Unlimited | Earthquake worse than tsunami, says UN