Hundreds dead in powerful Asian earthquake
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-08 19:53

Pakistani army soldiers and rescue workers gather at the site of a building collapsed by an earthquake in Islamabad October 8, 2005.[Reuters]

Aided by two large cranes, hundreds of police and soldiers helped remove chunks of concrete. A concrete slab was splattered with blood. One rescue worker said he initially heard faint cries from people trapped in the rubble.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ordered the military to extend "all-out help" to quake-hit areas and appealed to the nation to stay calm.

Pakistani troops and helicopters deployed to earthquake-hit areas. Landslides were hindering rescue efforts in some areas.

Sultan, the army spokesman, said the worst-hit areas were in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, and the towns of Bagh and Rawalakot. The districts of Batagram, Balakot, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Patan in northwestern Pakistan were also badly hit, he said.

Dozens of homes, schools, mosques and government offices were damaged in those areas, and hundreds of injured people were taken to hospitals.

In the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, buildings shook and walls swayed for about a minute. Panicked people ran from their homes and offices. Tremors continued for hours afterward.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said the quake was felt at Bagram, the main American base in Afghanistan, but he had no reports of damage at bases around the country.

"It was so strong that I saw buildings swaying. It was terrifying," said Hari Singh, a guard in an apartment complex in a suburb of India's capital, New Delhi. Hundreds of residents raced down from their apartments after their furniture started shaking.

The quake also jolted parts of Bangladesh, but no casualties or damage were reported there.