Twenty times more lethal than hurricane Katrina, the earthquake of October 8, 2005 was a major seismological disturbance that took the calm out of Kashmir and adjoining areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan at 9.20 am.

The tremor took away 87,000 lives across the sub-continent and displaced three to four million people. In Kashmir alone, at least 1,300 people perished and 4,500 were hurt according to official estimates.

Striking on a magnitude of 7.6 Richter scale, the quake caused landslides and building collapses in wide areas of mountainous Kashmir and also northern Pakistan. Nearly 32,000 houses were flattened by the shake-up and 1,500 houses were destroyed in Uri alone.

Relief efforts in many remote villages are hampered, as roads are buried in rubble and many affected areas remain inaccessible.