Nearly 2,000 people are confirmed dead in Pakistan after the strong quake that also hit north India and Afghanistan.

The 7.6-magnitude quake with the epicentre 80km (50 miles) north-east of Islamabad wiped out several villages.

In one incident, 400 children were reported to have died when their school collapsed in north-west Pakistan.

The worst hit area is disputed Kashmir, where more than 2,000 people are feared dead on the Pakistan side. Indian officials reported nearly 300 deaths.

In Islamabad, people rushed to dig with bare hands to rescue those trapped when an apartment building collapsed.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who was visiting the site, said the quake was a test of the nation.

Several countries have offered to send emergency aid.

Landslides

The earthquake, which hit at 0350GMT, was felt as far away as the Afghan capital, Kabul, and India's capital, Delhi. Several aftershocks followed.

Army spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan told the BBC: "I would say it is massive damage that has been caused. I would say that the casualties may not be hundreds - but much more."

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao told local television: "We have reports that several entire villages have been wiped out."

In Pakistani-controlled Kashmir 250 bodies have been recovered of the more than 2,000 feared dead, an official told the BBC from the provincial capital, Muzaffarabad.

Landslides have blocked all access roads to Muzaffarabad, where there is no electricity and telephones.

At least 200 Pakistani soldiers were among those killed in the area.

Islamabad collapse

Part of the upmarket Margala Towers residential complex collapsed in Islamabad.

Karam Usmani, a 28-year-old sub-inspector with Islamabad police told the BBC: "I heard the cries of the people in the debris and with my bare hands I started to dig and I pulled out one dead body.

"But I managed to rescue another man of 35 and carried him on my shoulders to the ambulance."

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, 15 soldiers were among those killed.

The town of Uri close to the Line of Control that separates divided Kashmir was worst hit, with 104 dead.

The administration is working overtime to restore essential supplies like electricity and water disrupted by the earthquake, says the BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar.

A number of countries have offered help and the United Nations is sending a team to co-ordinate the relief effort.

PHOTO CAPTION

A volunteer looks at a dead body, which lies in an ambulance at the incident site of a collapsed 10-story apartment building, after a severe earthquake jolted Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005. (AP)