Strong aftershocks hit South Asian quake region

Two strong aftershocks from the South Asian earthquake that killed at least 55,000 people shook the devastated region on Wednesday, unleashing landslides and setting off another wave of panic among survivors who lost loved ones and homes in the October 8 disaster.

Despite brisk sorties of helicopters delivering aid to quake victims, an estimated half-million survivors, many of them in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, have yet to receive any help since the monster 7.6-magnitude quake leveled entire villages. Thousands need urgent medical care. The problem is worst in the estimated 1,000 settlements outside the main cities and towns, said regional UN disaster coordinator Rob Holden.

"Many people out there, we are not going to get to in time," Holden said. "Some people who have injuries don't have a chance of survival."

Many of the 250 injured people brought by copter into the regional hub of Muzaffarabad on Tuesday were attended by a qualified medic for the first time since the quake, Holden said. Rates of infection and gangrene were rising, leaving amputation as the only option in many cases.

Wednesday morning's 5.8-magnitude aftershock struck 129 km north of Islamabad according to the US National Earthquake Center in Colorado. It was followed by another in the same area about 45 minutes later that registered 5.6.

The first aftershock caused a landslide in Balakot, one of the cities hardest hit by the initial quake. Debris covered the road to nearby Mansehra, but it was quickly cleared, said Pakistani Army Lt Col Saeed Iqbal, who is in charge of relief efforts in the area. A landslide also blocked a road out of Muzaffarabad but it was expected to be cleared later in the day.

Hundreds of aftershocks have struck the region since the October 8 quake. "They're not over," said Waverly Person, a seismologist at the US quake center. "For a shallow-depth earthquake like this they go on, sometimes for a year."

Touring Balakot, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said he expected reconstruction of the area to take years, and that the government would try to get prefabricated homes for victims since they take less time to rebuild.