URI, India, 9 October 2005 — Each time another body was pulled out of the rubble in this Indian Kashmir town, the anguished cries of men and women pierced the air.
“We are preparing to spend the blackest night of our lives,” said Abdul Aziz, a government employee. “Last night, every one of us had a house and a family. Now most of us are homeless, and many have no dear ones left.”
The powerful earthquake on Saturday morning killed scores of people in Uri and surrounding villages in Indian Kashmir. After nightfall, residents used gas-powered lamps to help army rescuers dig into the rubble, hoping to find survivors but fearing the worst.
Mohammed Abdullah’s house had caved in, and so had his brother’s. “Under those rocks and bricks is my nephew,” he said.
Officials said more than 70 percent of the houses in the Uri region had been flattened or ruined. Many of the homes are now no more than mounds of shattered brick and stone.
“I will not go back to my house,” said Irshad Ahmed, a 27-year-old whose house was split open, with large cracks in the walls. “My entire family is scared to move into the house.” Thousands were preparing to spend the night in the open or in tents set up by the army, and even some of those whose houses were untouched were too afraid to be indoors.
“Every 30 minutes an aftershock makes me more scared,” said 38-year-old Maqsood Ahmed. “I don’t want to take chances by staying in my mud and brick house.”
In the morning screams and wails filled the air as panicked residents ran for their lives.
In Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, people fled their homes, shops and offices fearing they would be buried under heaps of rubble.
Men spontaneously started reciting aloud verses from the Qur’an as the ground shook for more than a minute. Women beat their chests in the streets in a traditional display of bereavement.
In the Indian capital, where strong tremors were felt for a minute, The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said its underground structures were quake-resistant.
“The Delhi Metro stations, elevated structures and underground tunnels are built with sufficient strength to endure maximum stress and strain in any eventuality, including earthquakes,” Anuj Dayal, chief spokesperson of DMRC, said in a statement.
“Since the section from Delhi University to Central Secretariat is fully underground, the authorities have taken additional measures to prevent any mishap in the event of a major earthquake,” he added.
Dayal said the designed life of the Metro structure is expected to be at least 100 years. And to ensure it, best quality materials were used and regular quality monitoring was done during the construction stage.
In the Punjab capital of Chandigarh, India’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, had to be rushed out of a building.
As soon as the first tremors were felt, the leaders assembled at the three-story building for the Congress chief ministers’ meeting were alerted about the temblor by the Special Protection Group.
The prime minister, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and all chief ministers of the 15 Congress-ruled states were meeting on the ground floor when the quake struck.
They were rushed out and remained outside for 10 minutes after which they reassembled. In the adjacent building about 300 journalists ran out for safety.
