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Earthquake rocks South Asia, hundreds feared dead
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-10-08 17:16
An earthquake measuring at least 7.6 on the Richter Scale caused massive
devastation across a swathe of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, leaving hundreds
feared dead.
The quake struck early in the morning almost directly on the dividing line
between the Indian and Pakistani controlled zones of Kashmir, triggering
landslides and sending terrified residents fleeing into the streets.
Senior Pakistani officials described scenes of "massive devastation" and
warned of heavy loss of life in landslides and building collapses.
A Pakistani man injured when a building
collapsed after an earthquake arrives in a hospital in Islamabad October
8, 2005.[Reuters] | "The death toll could be in
hundreds," said Brigadier Javed Cheema, the head of Pakistan's national crisis
center. He said most deaths were in the northern area of Mansehra and Pakistan's
sector of Kashmir.
The Pakistani military said at least one village in Kashmir had been totally
destroyed and that troops and helicopters had been scrambled to reach the
stricken areas.
"There are reports of buildings collapsing in several cities in central
Pakistan. We have no exact estimates but the casualties could be very high," one
Pakistani official told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.
Patients and their attendants wait outside a
hospital after an earthquake hit the northern Indian city of Jammu,
October 8, 2005.[Reuters] | The Indian army said
at least at least 31 people -- 16 civilians and 15 soldiers -- had been killed
in the Indian-controlled zone of Kashmir and some 300 taken to hospital.
Indian army spokesman P Sehgal told AFP many soldiers died when their
positions caved in along the Line of Control, the heavily-militarised de facto
border which divides Kashmir into Indian and Pakistani zones.
He said others were hit by falling trees and landslides.
The US Geological Survey and the Pakistan Meteorological Department said the
quake measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale, while the Japanese Meteorological
Agency put the temblor even higher at 7.8.
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