RESCUE operations intensified in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan in rugged, earthquake-hit areas as the death toll rose to at least 311.
Monday's 7.5-magnitude quake was centred deep beneath the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan's sparsely populated Badakhshan province, which borders Pakistan, Tajikistan and China.
Pakistani government official Amir Afaq said today that civil and military authorities had reached the remote, impoverished areas in the country's north-west to help the quake victims.
"We are transporting tents, medicines and other items to quake-hit areas," he said. The quake damaged nearly 2,000 homes in the area, he said.
Troops and military doctors had reached the quake zone and were engaged in rescue work, Pakistani army spokesman Lieutenant General Asil Saleem Bajwa said.
The quake shook buildings in the Afghan capital of Kabul early on Monday afternoon for up to 45 seconds, creating cracks in walls and shutting down power.
Frightened workers who had just returned from lunch break rushed out of swaying buildings in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad and the Indian capital of New Delhi.
"I was praying when the massive earthquake rattled my home. I came out in a panic," said Munir Anwar of Liaquat Pur in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province.
At least 237 people were killed in Pakistan, with more than 1,500 injured, while Afghan officials reported 33 dead and more than 200 injured.
Authorities in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region reported two deaths. Officials expected the toll to rise as they reach remote areas.
Authorities struggled to reach the hardest-hit areas in Afghanistan near the epicentre, located 45 miles south of Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan province.
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