Powerful Asian Quake Leaves Hundreds Dead By CHRISTOPHER
TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake near the
Pakistan-India border Saturday reduced villages to rubble,
triggered landslides and flattened an apartment building, killing
hundreds of people in both nations. Pakistan's army called the
devastation "a national tragedy."
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In the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, buildings shook
and walls swayed for about a minute, and panicked people ran from
their homes and offices. Tremors continued for hours afterward.
Communications throughout the region were cut.
Pakistan's Geo television quoted chief army spokesman Maj. Gen.
Shaukat Sultan as saying 1,000 people were feared dead. Army
officials who flew over quake-hit areas reported seeing hundreds of
flattened homes in villages north of the capital, Islamabad.
"The damage and casualties could be massive and it is a national
tragedy," Sultan told The Associated Press. "This is the worst
earthquake in recent times."
The U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site the quake hit at
8:50 a.m. local time and had a magnitude of 7.6. It was centered
about 60 miles northeast of Islamabad in the forested mountains of
Pakistani Kashmir.
Damage was extensive in Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan territory
divided between India and Pakistan. Officials in the
Indian-controlled portion reported at least 190 people killed,
including 20 soldiers who perished in a landslide. At least 800
people were injured and about 2,700 homes were destroyed or damaged
across Jammu-Kashmir, said senior state official B.B. Vyas.
Army soldiers and local volunteers were rescuing people from under
the debris of collapsed houses. Telephone lines were down. Bridges
had developed cracks, but traffic was passing over them.
The USGS reported at least five aftershocks in Pakistan, with the
strongest measuring magnitude 6.3 and located about 70 miles north
of Islamabad.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister
Shaukat Aziz ordered the military to extend "all-out help" to
quake-hit areas and appealed to the nation to stay calm.
Helicopters took troops to damaged areas, but landslides were
hindering rescue efforts.
At least 500 people died and 1,700 were injured in four quake-hit
districts in northwestern Pakistan, said provincial police chief
Rifat Pasha. He said the toll could rise because rescue teams were
still working in areas that were hit hard by the temblor.
In eastern Afghanistan, an 11-year-old girl was crushed to death
when a wall in her home collapsed, said police official Gafar
Khan.
The quake brought down a 10-story apartment building in Islamabad
and dozens of people were feared trapped in the rubble. Rescuers
pulled out at least 20 injured people. Some residents were
Westerners, a building employee said.
A man named Rehmatullah who lived nearby said he saw dust from the
buckled building from his bathroom window.
"I rushed down, and for some time you could not see anything
because of the dust. Then we began to look for people in the
rubble," he said. "We pulled out one man by cutting off his
legs."
"It was like hell," said Nauman Ali, who lived in a nearby
top-floor apartment. "It was terrible. I was tossed up in my bed
and the ceiling fan struck against the roof."
Aided by two large cranes, hundreds of police and soldiers helped
remove chunks of concrete, one of which was splattered with blood.
One rescue worker said he initially heard faint cries from people
trapped in the rubble.
Sultan said the worst-hit areas were in Pakistani-controlled
Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, and the
towns of Bagh and Rawalakot. The districts of Batagram, Balakot,
Mansehra, Abbottabad and Patan in northwestern Pakistan also
suffered serious damage, he said.
Dozens of homes, schools, mosques and government offices were
damaged, and hundreds of injured people were taken to
hospitals.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said the quake was
felt at Bagram, the main American base in Afghanistan, but he had
no reports of damage at bases around the country.
"It was so strong that I saw buildings swaying. It was terrifying,"
said Hari Singh, a guard in an apartment complex in a suburb of
India's capital, New Delhi. Hundreds of residents raced down from
their apartments after their furniture started shaking.
The quake also jolted parts of Bangladesh, but no casualties or
damage were reported there.