Rescue work expands in quake-hit Pakistan, Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Authorities in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan intensified rescue and relief operations Tuesday in rugged, earthquake-affected areas as the death toll rose to at least 270.

Monday's 7.5-magnitude quake was centered deep beneath the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan's sparsely populated Badakhshan province, which borders Pakistan, Tajikistan and China, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Pakistani government official Amir Afaq said Tuesday that civil and military authorities had reached the remote, impoverished areas in the country's northwest to help the quake victims. "We are transporting tents, medicines and other items to quake-hit areas," he said. The quake damaged nearly 2,000 homes in the area, he said.

Troops and military doctors had reached the quake zone and were engaged in rescue work, Pakistani army spokesman Lt. Gen. Asil Saleem Bajwa said.

The quake shook buildings in the Afghan capital of Kabul early Monday afternoon for up to 45 seconds, creating cracks in walls and shutting down power. Frightened workers who had just returned from lunch break rushed out of swaying buildings in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad and the Indian capital of New Delhi.

http://news.yahoo.com/strong-earthquake-afghanistan-shakes-region-100139867.html