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30 killed as quake hits
northern Pakistan

"Given the reports... the damage appears serious and we expect the death toll to mount," Joint-secretary (Northern Areas) Jehangir Khan said in Islamabad.

Up to 8,000 people living in the Astore valley, an area between the Indus river and the town of Astore, were affected by the quake, officials said.

The towns of Dashkin and Harcho, with populations of 3,500 and 2,500, respectively, as well as the villages of Turbling and Mushkin suffered maximum damage, they said.

"The area is not densely populated, but Dashkin and Harcho have large populations," Khan said.

According to the US Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado the quake, registering 5.8 on the Richter scale, occurred at 0232 Pakistan time and was followed by a series of aftershocks.

Dr Qamar Chaudhary, director-general of the meteorology department in Islamabad, said the quake's epicentre was near the towns of Bunji and Astore, some 45 km southeast of Gilgit city, in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"It was a shallow earthquake with a depth of 30 km," he said adding such quakes were more destructive on the surface.

The quake affected a 50 sq km area, but was felt as far away as the capital, he said, adding the quake was immediately followed by two sharp aftershocks, measuring 5.5 and 4.5 respectively, with smaller tremors.

From the first quake until 1000 a.m. on Thursday morning, some 28 aftershocks were felt, all of them measuring less than four on the Richter scale, Khan said.

Pakistani civil and military authorities were working in the affected area, but access remains problematic. "Telephone lines are down and communication is through wireless means only," Khan said.

A 30 km stretch of road into the Astore valley had been blocked at various locations making access difficult, while portions of the Karakoram highway and the Gilgit-Skardu road had also been blocked, he said. Helicopters could not be employed because of huge dust clouds in the area, he added.

At the moment, the government was sending relief through its own resources but had requested those NGOs who had helped earlier to come forward again, Khan said.

On November 3, 11 people were killed and 65 injured when a series of quakes rocked an area near Gilgit.

Four villages some 60 km southeast of Gilgit, including Muthat, Tato, Raikot and Jail, as well as a number of hamlets along a 20 km stretch of mountainous terrain, were affected.

More reports from Pakistan

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