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| Reporters' log: Kashmir earthquake | |
Barbara Plett : Islamabad, Pakistan : 1023GMT The earthquake struck early in the morning, centred in the mountains of Pakistan administered Kashmir. It was difficult to get a clear picture of the damage because telephone lines were down. But Pakistani officials said buildings collapsed in the region's capital, Muzafarabad. The interior minister, Aftab Sherpao, spoke of entire villages wiped out. The army has mobilised its crisis response teams. It sent medical aid in by helicopter because roads have been blocked by landslides. The earthquake also left its mark further south. In one town a school came down and in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, part of an apartment block was reduced to rubble. Rescue workers are still trying to dig out people trapped beneath large stone slabs and stretchers carry away bloodied survivors. Seismic activity is common in the volatile Hindu Kush mountains, but this is the strongest earthquake felt here in many years. Altaf Hussain : Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir : 1009GMT I now understand that 172 people have died in Indian administered Kashmir, 157 civilians and 15 soldiers. The reports say that there are more than 600 people injured. In Uri it is believed that 104 people are dead. The authorities are running 500 tents to the area. The Army facilities have also been badly hit, which has a big knock on effect on the rescue operation. Nick Bryant : Delhi : 1002GMT We did feel the tremors here in Delhi, but we are 600 miles away. I was on the ground floor and felt it shake. Those on higher floors would have found it very frightening. Uri, on the road that links the divided territory is badly damaged. I understand 70% of the buildings there have experienced some sort of structural damage. It is a heavily militarised area and we understand some soldiers have been killed too. Information is difficult to get at the moment, some of these areas are quite remote and communication is difficult in normal times. Altaf Hussain : Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir : 0956GMT The Met office in Srinagar says the epicentre of the earthquake has been found in Pakistan administered Kashmir, west of its capital, Muzafarabad. Thousands of houses in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir have been damaged. The civil administration has asked the army's main hospital in Srinagar to receive casualties. The earthquake hit at 9.25am. People ran out of their homes into open spaces with women and children crying in panic. Hospitals have received hundreds of trauma cases. Many people are still staying out of their homes fearing more tremors. Most of the government offices and educational institutions have been closed. Waliur Rahman : Dhaka, Bangladesh : 0947GMT The earthquake that struck the South Asian subcontinent has also jolted parts of Bangladesh. The earthquake caused widespread panic among residents at various cities and towns, but there was no immediate report of casualties or damage from anywhere of the country. According to the Earthquake Observation Centre in the south-eastern port city of Chittagong, the earthquake measured 5.4 on the Richter scale and it was felt just before 10am local time and lasted for about a minute. Zaffar Abbas : Islamabad : 0925GMT The Pakistani army have emergency teams and they are working now, moving towards the badly effected villages. They have sent several helicopters with medical aid to the areas involved and they are hoping to bring in more helicopters from other cities. Kashmir, and the Pakistan northern region are badly hit. There are road blocks caused by landslides, which are hampering access by road. The telephone lines have come down too. It will be a while before we have a clear picture of the damage. Early indications are that the devastation has been big and widespread. Altaf Hussain : Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir : 0855GMT Officials in Indian-administered Kashmir say at least 60 people have died so far in the earthquake. They said of these 45 were civilians and 15 were army soldiers. Altaf Hussain : Srinagar : 0840GMT It appears the town of Uri, near the Line of Control [between Indian and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir], seems to have suffered the most damage. An army spokesman said 60-70% of the buildings in Uri have been damaged. The main Uri market was engulfed in a major fire following the earthquake. Though the fire has been brought under control, it caused extensive damage to the shops. Altaf Hussain : Srinagar : 0803GMT Police in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir say at least 22 people have been killed and hundreds injured after a powerful earthquake hit the state on Saturday morning. Five people are buried under the debris of a house. The earthquake hit at 0925 (local time). People ran out of their homes into open spaces with women and children crying in panic. Many people are still staying out of their homes fearing more tremors. Barbara Plett : Margala Towers, Islamabad, Pakistan : 0620GMT There are desperate rescue efforts going on here. A number of floors of the apartment block collapsed and in front of me is a small hill of broken concrete over which and under which rescue workers are desperately trying to dig out survivors. A number of casualties have already been carried out on stretchers, but there are more underneath the rubble. Everyone is pitching in - official rescue workers, but also people who live here and those ordinary people who've just come to help. Zaffar Abbas : Islamabad, Pakistan : 0527GMT The big jolts in Islamabad and all its neighbouring towns and villages started around 0830 local time (0330 GMT). Within minutes, reports had started to come in from places as far as Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and Kashmir, of a major earthquake. Millions of panic-stricken people came out in the open as the tremors continued for nearly three minutes. Initial reports suggest there have been landslides in several places in the country's north and north-west region and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A number of villages in the mountainous area have been wiped out and road links have been cut from some of the towns and villages in northern Pakistan. Barbara Plett : Islamabad, Pakistan : 0520GMT I'm at a building called the Margala Towers in Islamabad. Part of it has collapsed and I'm looking at a small hill of concrete that people are running across frantically. At the moment, straight ahead of me, there's a sort of cavity that people have gathered around. They're trying to pull survivors out and things are getting a bit frantic. They've also brought up a water pipe that's gone up over the hill of concrete and they've been throwing up bottles of water - presumably to hand to those people who are stranded, either caught underneath the rubble or stranded in their apartment buildings. |
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