On October 8, 2005, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale shook southern Asia. Hardest hit was Pakistan, where more than 73,000 people were killed and 69,300 seriously injured.

Relief efforts were made difficult by the remoteness of mountain villages damaged by the shock waves. Another concern was cold winter weather moving into the region.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) quickly turned to emergency response organizations with which it had worked closely in the past, including Ericsson Response. By October 19, two Ericsson volunteers were on site in Muzaffarabad, 95km northeast of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

• Installed WIDER, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), developed by Ericsson Response to be used in emergency situations. This connected all relief personnel to an intranet, enabling volunteers to communicate within their own organizations and with other organizations on site.
• Connected the relief camp via a satellite transmitter and transceiver to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in New York. This allowed UNICEF to provide an internet connection back to the camp.
• Provided general IT support to UN organizations in Pakistan.
• Ericsson Response stayed in Muzaffarabad for nearly nine months. Seventeen volunteers participated in the operation.

• United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.