Earthquake Rocks Islamabad and India

There are reports that this earthquake was 7.6 on the Richter scale. After shocks have reached 6.3. There are reports of 1,500 dead and 1,700 injured. Everyone is helping in trying to rescue any survivors. It was felt as far away as India and Afghanistan.

The location is centered about 60 miles northeast of Islamabad in the forested mountains of Pakistani Kashmir, killing several hundreds there. The telephone lines are down.

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. Helicopters took troops to damaged areas, but landslides were hindering rescue efforts.

In eastern Afghanistan, an 11-year-old girl was crushed by a wall in her home when it collapsed, said police official Gafar Khan. She died from her injuries.

Using cranes, police and soldiers chunks and slabs of concrete. One rescue worker said he heard faint cries from people trapped in the rubble.

In India, "Power has been restored to hospitals, but telephone, water and electricity supplies were still disrupted across much of the state."

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

Reports will be coming in all through today and maybe until next week. They have to assess the damage and loss, and they have to bring relief to the damaged parts of the country. [read more].