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.
The epicenter was around 100 kilometres (62 miles) northeast of Islamabad, according to most agencies, although the Earth Sciences Observatory in the French city of Strasbourg said the epicenter 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.
The quake was felt across a vast swathe of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.
An Indian student cries outside a school building following an earthquake in the northern Indian city of Jammu, October 8, 2005.[Reuters] |
It shook the desert town of Quetta, some 700 kilometres (435 miles) southwest of Islamabad as well as the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, some 500 kilometres north of the Pakistani capital.
In the Pakistani capital Islamabad part of an 11-storey apartment block collapsed leaving dozens of people trapped and neighbours clawing at the rubble in an attempt to free them.
Bloodstained people could be seen trapped beneath huge stone slabs at the scene while desperate cries for help could be heard, an AFP photographer reported.
A school in the nearby city of Rawalpindi also came down, killing one child and injuring six others, while Afghan officials said at least two children had been killed near the town of Jalalabad.
Witnesses in Islamabad said the ground shook for over 30 seconds, rocking buildings and causing widespread panic. A second, less severe jolt lasted about five seconds.
Many mosques in Islamabad started reciting special prayers straight afterwards.
The quake was felt strongly in Indian Kashmir, causing panic and bringing people pouring out onto the streets of the summer capital Srinagar.
"This is the strongest earthquake I have ever witnessed in my life," said Aisha Begum, 84.
Pakistani army soldiers and rescue workers gather at the site of a building collapsed by an earthquake in Islamabad October 8, 2005.[Reuters] |
Screams were heard from across Srinagar as people fled homes, shops and offices fearing they would be buried under rubble.
Men spontaneously started reading verses from the Muslim holy book the Koran out loud and women beat their chests in a display of bereavement.
Doctors at Srinagar's main hospital said more than 200 people were admitted with injuries and shock, while more than 100 people were being treated at an army hospital in the northern town of Uri alone.
The tremor also brought down part of the state-owned television's main transmitter tower on a hill overlooking Srinagar.
The disputed Kashmir region is an area of high seismic activity that lies in the collision zone of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
位置：
