18000, dead in quake
- Thread starter Clem D
- Start date
Where did you hear about that? I'm with you as far as all of the natural disasters go. It seems as if the world is coming to an end. I've been watching sports all day and haven't heard anything about it.
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.
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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 early Sunday 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, he said.
"The death toll is gradually rising," Sultan told The Associated Press. He said authorities had counted the bodies.
For hours, aftershocks rattled an area stretching from Afghanistan across northern Pakistan into India's portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Hospitals moved quake victims onto lawns, fearing tremors could cause more damage, and many people spent the night in the open.
The earthquake, which struck just before 9 a.m. Saturday, caused buildings to sway for about a minute in the capitals of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, an area some 625 miles across. Panicked people ran from homes and offices, and communications were cut to many areas.
Most of the devastation occurred in the mountains of northern Pakistan, where the dead included 250 girls crushed at a school and 200 soldiers on duty in the Himalayas.
The U.S. Geological Survey
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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 early Sunday 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, he said.
"The death toll is gradually rising," Sultan told The Associated Press. He said authorities had counted the bodies.
For hours, aftershocks rattled an area stretching from Afghanistan across northern Pakistan into India's portion of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Hospitals moved quake victims onto lawns, fearing tremors could cause more damage, and many people spent the night in the open.
The earthquake, which struck just before 9 a.m. Saturday, caused buildings to sway for about a minute in the capitals of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, an area some 625 miles across. Panicked people ran from homes and offices, and communications were cut to many areas.
Most of the devastation occurred in the mountains of northern Pakistan, where the dead included 250 girls crushed at a school and 200 soldiers on duty in the Himalayas.
The U.S. Geological Survey
Actually its more like 30,000 dead and counting. Terrible numbers.
Sure have been some terrible natural disasters in recent times....tsunami (300,000), Iranian earthquake (100,000), a few others that all too soon slip from the memory banks as we go about our day-to-day business.
Sure have been some terrible natural disasters in recent times....tsunami (300,000), Iranian earthquake (100,000), a few others that all too soon slip from the memory banks as we go about our day-to-day business.
