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FOXnews - Over 2,000 Feared Dead in Asian Quake

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake near the Pakistan-India border Saturday reduced villages to rubble, triggered landslides and flattened an apartment building. More than 2,000 people were killed in both nations, and a Pakistan army spokesman called the devastation “a national tragedy.”

I wonder how Al Qaeda is going to spin this one. God is punishing the Afghanis for voting, the Pakistanis for helping, and the Indians for…oh so many options there. Let’s hope Binny’s cave fell in on him.

About 1,000 people were killed in Pakistani Kashmir, said Sardar Mohammed Anwar, the top government official in the area.

“This is my conservative guess, and the death toll could be much higher,” Anwar told Pakistan’s Aaj television station.

He said most homes in Muzaffarabad, the area’s capital, were damaged, and schools and hospitals had collapsed.

The U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site the quake hit at 8:50 a.m. local time and had a magnitude of 7.6. It was centered about 60 miles northeast of Islamabad in the forested mountains of Pakistani Kashmir.

“The damage and casualties could be massive and it is a national tragedy,” chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan told The Associated Press. “This is the worst earthquake in recent times.”

Damage was extensive in Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan territory divided between India and Pakistan.

India Uncut was just reporting that the property prices were finally going up.

Update: The Telegraph:

After a visit to the scene, Gen Musharraf said: “It is a test for all of us,” he said. “It is a test for me, of the Prime Minister, of the government and of the entire nation and I am sure we will succeed,” he said.

But information on casualties remains sketchy, with many telephone lines brought down by the earthquake, and mobile networks overwhelmed. Officials are warning of heavy loss of life, particularly in the hills of Kashmir.