BREAKING - Big quake rocks Indian subcontinent (7.6)

A major earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7.6 struck Pakistan on Saturday and was felt across the Indian subcontinent, shaking people out of their homes and sending them running into the streets.

The quake was felt in the Indian, Pakistani and Afghan capitals, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) highlighted a large earthquake on its Website between Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir with a magnitude of 7.6.

It described the quake as "major", saying it took place at 0350 GMT at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles). It was centred 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad and 125 km (75 miles) northwest of Srinagar.

Japanese quake experts put the magnitude at 7.8. Tokyo measures earthquakes according to a technique similar to the Richter scale but adjusted for Japan's geological characteristics.

"We can say that it was one of the strongest earthquakes (ever) felt in Islamabad," said Mohammad Hanif, an official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

Screaming people rushed out of apartment buildings in the Indian capital, New Delhi, as the tremors began, a Reuters reporter said.

Indian government officials and the meteorological office said earlier that the quake measured 6.8, and was centred west of Muzaffarabad in Pakistani Kashmir.

Reuters reporters in the Pakistan capital Islamabad and the Afghan capital Kabul also felt the tremors.

"People are still gathered outside their homes and buildings," a resident of Delhi told Reuters. "They are a bit scared to go back into their homes at the moment.

The area where the quake took place is known for its frequent seismic activity and experts have long predicted an imminent major earthquake in the Himalayan region.

Quake hits Pakistan, Afghanistan, India

Islamabad, Oct. 8 (AP): A magnitude 7.6 earthquake rocked parts of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Saturday, injuring at least a dozen people. Part of a 19-story building collapsed in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

Police in the Pakistani city of Lahore said at least eight people were injured and four shops were damaged. The earthquake also damaged part of a school in Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad, injuring at least two girls.

Rescue workers were on the scene of the collapse in Islamabad, and at least two injured people were carried from the debris.

In Islamabad, buildings shook and walls swayed for about a minute at 8:50 a.m. local time (0350 GMT). Panicked people ran out of homes and offices in many cities. Slight tremors continued afterward.

The U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site that the quake had a magnitude of 7.6 and that its epicenter was 80 kilometers (50 miles) north-northeast of Islamabad.

Arif Mahmood, a seismological official in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said the earthquake was felt in many parts of Pakistan.

``It was a very strong earthquake,'' he said.

Mohammed Hanif, another seismological official, said the quake appeared to have been strongest in Islamabad.

Local television said the quake caused panic in the Pakistani capital, as well as in nearby Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta near the Afghan border.

It also frightened residents of the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in entirety by both.

Residents in the Afghan capital, Kabul, also felt the quake, fleeing their homes for fear they would collapse.

``We are calling all our officials in the provinces. But we haven't received any reports yet of casualties,'' said Saed Jawad Qanah, an official in Kabul with the disaster department of the Red Crescent Society.

U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara, said the quake was felt at Bagram, the main American base in Afghanistan, but he had no reports of damage at bases around the country.

The tremor also affected northern India.

'`It was so strong that I saw buildings swaying. It was terrifying,'' said Hari Singh, a guard in an apartment complex in the New Delhi suburb of Noida. Hundreds of residents there raced down from their apartments after their beds and couches started shaking.

Quake hits Indo-Pakistan border
Breaking news graphic
A strong earthquake has struck parts of Pakistan, northern India and Afghanistan, causing panicked residents to pour out into the streets.

In Islamabad, buildings shook and walls swayed for about a minute shortly before 0900 (0400 GMT).

Residents in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and in the Indian capital, Delhi, are also reported to have felt the tremor.

The US Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of at least 7.6 and the epicentre was northeast of Islamabad.

Japan's Meteorological Agency put the magnitude at 7.8.

"We can say that it was one of the strongest earthquakes [ever] felt in Islamabad," Mohammad Hanif, an official at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, told the Reuters news agency.

Police in the Pakistani city of Lahore told the Associated Press news agency that at least eight people were injured and four shops were damaged.

Part of a 19-storey building collapsed in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, reports say.

"It was so strong that I saw buildings swaying. It was terrifying," Hari Singh, a guard in an apartment complex in the New Delhi suburb of Noida told the Associated Press news agency.

The earthquake was also felt in the disputed territory of Kashmir.

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