Nature's Fury

Uri is a market town in a Kashmiri valley of preternatural beauty which, for half a century, has been on the front line of one of the world's most dangerous conflicts. On Saturday, nature turned on Uri, too. Around 9 a.m., an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale—the strongest in Pakistan since 1935—struck just west of the Line of Control, along which India and Pakistan have fought two wars and countless skirmishes. The quake, centered 95 km north of Islamabad and felt as far away as Kabul and New Delhi, struck fear into a battle-hardened population. "I'm 86," says Gul Muhammad Butt, a resident of Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Never in my life have I experienced anything like it."

The worst damage was in Pakistan, where on Sunday the government predicted a death toll of at least 18,000. Military rescue pilots, diverted from scouring the Afghan-Pakistan border for al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, witnessed scores of mountain villages pulverized by landslides. Officials say that the town of Muzaffarabad, with a population of more than 100,000, was 70% destroyed. In Islamabad, a 10-story apartment block collapsed, trapping scores of people. "I thought doomsday had fallen," says Abdur Rashid Hajjam, coming out of prayers at a Sufi shrine in Srinagar.

	From TIME.com • Kashmir Aftershocks: The Plight of the Living—And The Dead TIME's New Delhi bureau chief reports on the grief and protests that have gripped the earthquake zone • Aftermath: A Father's Grief As hopes for peace rose between contending nations, nature intervened violently in the life of a Kashmiri family • "I Thought Doomsday Had Fallen" At least 18,000 are dead after the military faultline in the India-Pakistan rivalry became the epicenter of a devastating temblor Photo Essays • Caring for the Survivors Aid comes in and the search for victims continues as Pakistan and India work to recover • After The Quake Rescue efforts continue in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan after Saturday's deadly earthquake

Rescue efforts were hampered by a lack of equipment and landslides that blocked roads to many villages. Hospitals, some damaged by the quake, were overwhelmed by the influx of injured. After surveying the devastation in Islamabad, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said the task of relief and rebuilding "is a test for all of us, the entire nation." The country may not have to go it alone. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Musharraf to offer assistance, while U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said his government was sending medical staff and other emergency workers. The United Nations also dispatched a team to coordinate relief efforts. But with transportation, communication and power disrupted, many in the quake zone will be on their own for days to come.