EARTHQUAKE 7.6 NE Pakistan Disaster – 42,000 Dead – Chinooks Arrive

LATEST NEWS – 42,000 FEARED DEAD

Quake Hits Indo-Pakistan Border Region of Kashmir

A strong earthquake has hit Pakistan, north India and Afghanistan, sending panicked residents into the streets.

Most severe earthquake in Pakistan over a century.

      « earlier story »
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A powerful earthquake flattened entire villages of mud-brick homes, triggered landslides and toppled a 10-story apartment building on Saturday, killing more than 18,000 people as it devastated a mountainous swath touching Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

  «« click on pic to enlarge

Kashmiris wait with injured children to be airlifted to Srinagar at an army base in Uri, about 100 kilometers (63 miles) north of Srinagar, India.  AP Photo/ Dar Yasin

The casualty toll from the 7.6-magnitude tremor rose sharply Sunday as rescuers struggled to dig people from the wreckage, their work made more difficult as rain and hail turned dirt and debris into sticky muck. Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan’s chief army spokesman said that more than 18,000 had been killed — 17,000 of them in Pakistani Kashmir, where the quake was centered. Some 41,000 people were injured.

DuctapeFatwa :: here are some links for updates

At least one village in Occupied Kashmir is said to be completely destroyed.

Kashmir Media Svc

Jang

Dawn   « click latest news, later they will probably change their front page, but they haven’t yet.

one man’s conspiracy is another man’s business plan
Blog updated 9-13

by DuctapeFatwa on Sat Oct 8th, 2005 at 04:19:24 AM PST

Pakistan’s army says it fears heavy damage in northern areas with reports that a village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir was “wiped out”.

Residents in Kabul and Delhi are also reported to have felt the tremor.

Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan’s chief military spokesman, told the AFP news agency: “We have reports that an entire village has been wiped out in Bagh district in Kashmir.

“In Kashmir and the northern areas we are receiving reports of severe damage.”

Pakistan’s Geo television quoted Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the Pakistani army’s chief spokesman, as saying 3,000 people were feared dead. Pakistani 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.”

“We have received news of widespread damage in Pakistan’s northern areas, Kashmir and other parts of the country,” said Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the spokesman for Pakistan’s army.

He said troops and helicopters were dispatched to earthquake-hit areas to conduct rescue operations. Landslides were blocking rescuers in some areas.

Dozens of people were feared trapped in the rubble of a 10-story apartment building in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. Rescue workers pulled two injured people from a huge pile of debris.

The Pakistani military has the advantage of large presence throughout the country, are well equiped for relief work which started immediately. The military are using helicopters to evacuate the injured out of areas blocked by road landslides and where communication is down.

Although material damage is severe, the quake hit rural areas where there are few high-rise buildings. The severest hit areas have not yet been reached.

Quake is considered a “shallow” type as far as depth, this does NOT define surface damage will be less. The maximum devastating energy of a quake, is related to distance from epi-center, thus the damage will be very severe as can be seen from video reports from helicopters flying over remote Kashmir province. Severe damage in remote areas of Kashmir, roads are blocked and telecommunication disrupted in the disputed Indo-Pakistan region administered by Pakistan.

Similar reports are coming in from the India administered part of Kashmir, dozens dead and scores of wounded.