9:36pm UK, Saturday October 08, 2005

Emergency teams are heading for Pakistan, India and Afghanistan after a major earthquake destroyed cities and killed more than 2,000 people.

180-Pakistan earthquake islamabad rubble

Islamabad in Pakistan

The quake - measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale - reportedly buried several entire villages in Pakistan.

The epicentre of the quake was 6.2 miles below ground in the Kashmir region, 60 miles north-east of Islamabad and 75 miles north-west of Srinagar.

The United Nationshas sent an emergency team to Pakistan to begin co-ordinating a global reponse to the disaster. 

In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, part of a 10-storey apartment building collapsed and dozens of people were feared dead or trapped in the rubble.

Rescue teams have pulled the bodies of 250 girls from a quake-hit school in northwest Pakistan.

And the military has confirmed at least 200 soldiers have been killed.

Most casualties were in the northern area of Mansehra and from Pakistan's sector of the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

The quake was felt across northern and central India and into Afghanistan.

Screaming people rushed out of flats in the Indian capital New Delhi as the tremor began.

"We felt the whole earth shaking, the scaffoldings swaying left and right," said Ram Kripal, a 33-year-old construction worker.

"There was big noise from the clattering of glass panes. It continued for about 15-20 seconds, but it felt like a lifetime."

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.