An earthquake measuring at least 7,6 on the Richter scale caused massive devastation on Saturday across a swathe of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, leaving more than 1Â 800 dead with fears for many more.
The quake struck close to the dividing line between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled zones of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, triggering deadly landslides that wiped out entire villages.
The quake, thought to be one of the most powerful to hit the region in decades, was felt from the Pakistan desert city of Quetta to northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz mountains more than 1Â 000km away.
“This is the strongest quake in the last 100 years in this region,” the chief of Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, Qamar Uzzman, said.
Pakistani officials described scenes of “massive devastation” and warned of heavy loss of life, especially in the mountains of Kashmir where communications were cut off.
“It is a test for all of us … the entire nation,” said Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as he visited a site in Islamabad where a 10-storey apartment block collapsed, killing some residents and leaving others buried alive.
Death toll climbs
Pakistani and Indian officials confirmed a total of more than 1Â 800 dead, and there are fears the death toll could keep climbing as rescuers race against time to find survivors.
Officials said the death toll tops 1Â 000 in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir alone.
“The death toll is certainly more than a thousand in Kashmir,” army relief official Major Rana Nisar said from Muzaffarabad, capital of the region.
Across the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two sectors, Information Minister S Jaipal Reddy said nearly 300 people had been killed in Indian Kashmir, including civilians and army personnel.
Meanwhile, more than 550 people died in Pakistan’s North West Frontier province bordering Afghanistan, said Riffat Pasha, the provincial head of police.
In Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, officials said troops and helicopters had been scrambled but that parts of the region had been swept away.
“Village after village has been wiped out,” an army relief official in Muzaffarabad said. “The Neelum River has been blocked because whole villages have fallen into the water.”
Indian army spokesperson P Sehgal said many soldiers died when their positions caved in along the heavily militarised Line of Control.
Building collapse
The quake also brought down buildings in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, including the 10-storey Margalla Towers where rescuers used bare hands to claw through rubble to reach blood-stained people trapped under huge stone slabs.
“We saw people rushing to a balcony on the other building but while it was still rocking, it crashed down and the occupants came down with the mass of the concrete,” said local resident Sajida Burki.
“There were screams of women and children. Many are still trapped inside and we can hear cries. It’s a tragic scene,” Burki said.
Across the devastated areas, rescuers hunted for anyone still alive and buried in the rubble.
“The search for survivors will continue round the clock,” army spokesperson Colonel Hemant Juneja said in Srinagar, Indian Kashmir’s summer capital.
Mohammed Abdullah, in the Indian Kashmir town of Uri, saw his house cave in along with his brother’s.
“Under those rocks and bricks is my nephew,” he said.
Powerful quake
The United States Geological Survey and the Pakistan Meteorological Department said the quake measured 7,6 on the Richter scale and struck at 3.50am GMT. The Japanese Meteorological Agency put the quake even higher, at 7,8.
The epicentre was about 100km north-east of Islamabad, according to most agencies, although the Earth Sciences Observatory in the French city of Strasbourg said it was just inside Indian Kashmir.
The divided territory of Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan. Thousands of troops face off on each side of the Line of Control and the two countries have fought two wars over the territory.
In Islamabad, in the first minutes after the earthquake struck, thousands of people fled their houses and sought the relative safety of the city’s broad, tree-lined avenues.
The ground shook for more than 30 seconds, rocking buildings and making it almost impossible to walk without falling over. At least 14 aftershocks, including one measuring more than six on the Richter scale, rattled Islamabad in the hours after the quake, according to the Meteorological Department.
All along the main roads, terrified people were sitting or lying down, sobbing or looking confused. Many mosques started reciting special prayers.
Men spontaneously started reading aloud verses from the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, and women beat their chests in a display of bereavement. — AFP