Major Earthquake in Kashmir

(Islamabad, Pakistan) A massive earthquake, 7.6 on the Richter Scale, struck Kashmir around midnight EDT and was felt across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. The center is reported at approximately 50 miles northeast of Islamabad.


Kashmir Earthquake 10/8/05
(Map - BBC)
From the BBC:

Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman, said: "Casualties will be high... they could be well over 1,000."

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told local television: "We have reports that several entire villages have been wiped out."

Details are unavailable since telephone networks are damaged and mobile systems are overwhelmed. Scores of people are feared trapped or killed in buildings reduced to rubble.

From HindustanTimes.com:

The quake killed at least 10 people in Jammu and Kashmir and 40 in Pakistan, initial reports said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh quickly moved out of a building in Chandigarh where he was meeting Congress chief ministers.

Another report said that Jammu and Kashmir bore the brunt where over 30 people, including 15 army personnel, were killed, hundreds injured and more than 400 houses flattened.

[ ... ]

A 10-storey apartment building in Islamabad collapsed like a pack of cards, entombing several sleeping people. In the F-10 sector of Islamabad, a portion of the building known as Margallah Towers collapsed. Most victims were still asleep. In the Valley, Uri market was completely flattened due to the quake and Uri-Rampur Highway blocked due to landslides.

The quake is described as "major" and occurred at 09:20:38 India Time at a depth of 10 kilometers. According to Mohammad Hanif of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, "We can say that it was one of the strongest earthquakes (ever) felt in Islamabad."