Pakistan Earthquake

Today I wake up and read the news, only to have have the same feeling I had when I heard New Orleans had been flooded overnight. This time however, a huge 7.6 earthquake struck along the Pakistan-Indian border and preliminary estimates are already at a staggering 1,700 people. This will undoubtedly go much higher as rescue workers retrieve the dead from under the rumble.

In the capitals of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, buildings shook and walls swayed for about a minute, and panicked people ran from their homes and offices. Tremors continued for hours afterward. Communications throughout the region were cut.

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.