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A devastating earthquake shook the western Himalaya and adjoining regions on the morning
of 8th October 2005. The magnitude 7.6 earthquake killed at least 86,000 people, injured
more than 69,000 and caused extensive damage in northern Pakistan. The heaviest damage
occurred in the Muzaffarabad area, Kashmir where entire villages were destroyed and
at Uri where 80 percent of the town was destroyed. At least 32,335 buildings collapsed
in Anantnag, Baramula, Jammu and Srinagar, Kashmir. Buildings collapsed in Abbottabad,
Gujranwala, Gujrat, Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. At least 1,360 people
killed and 6,266 injured in India. At least one person killed and some buildings collapsed
in Afghanistan. Landslides and rockfalls damaged or destroyed several mountain roads
and highways cutting off access to the region for several days. Landslides occurred
farther north near the towns of Gilgit and Skardu, Kashmir. Liquefaction and sandblows
occurred in the western part of Vale of Kashmir and near Jammu. |