Pakistan said over 18,000 people had been killed and 41,000 wounded in the huge earthquake which has hit the region and was described as the biggest disaster in the nation's history.

Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan also warned the number of casualties from Saturday's quake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale and also caused fatalities in India and Afghanistan, would rise significantly as entire villages and towns had been wiped off the map.

"It is the biggest ever disaster in the history of Pakistan," Sultan told AFP, appealing for massive international aid.

Sultan said military helicopters were leading rescue efforts in the worst affected zones, the rugged terrain of North West Frontier Province and the towering Himalayan mountains of the Pakistani-controlled zone of Kashmir.

"Village after village has been wiped out," said an official in Muzaffarabad, the main town in Pakistani Kashmir. "The Neelum River has been blocked because whole villages have fallen into the water."

The scale of the disaster has shocked the international community and brought pledges of aid and expressions of sympathy but the time has already run out for many in the region.

Near the shattered town of Balakot in North West Frontier Province, the scene was one of total devastation with many villages lying in ruins.

'Burried under rubble'

Landslides blocked the steep mountain roads and powerful aftershocks sowed terror among survivors, dislodging huge boulders from further up the hillsides. Rain, hail and freezing temperatures added to the misery.

Hundreds of children were feared killed after several schools in Balakot collapsed in the quake, as did buildings in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. And in Indian Kashmir, the quake killed at least 300 people.

"All the children from our village went to Balakot and none of them have come back," said Abdul Rashid, a local official in Shawal village. "We have heard they are all buried under the rubble."

The epicentre was close to the dividing line between Indian and Pakistani controlled zones of Kashmir, and scores of soldiers on both sides died when their heavily-fortified positions collapsed around them.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir, but a peace process is under way and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh immediately reached out to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to offer help.

"While parts of India have also suffered from this unexpected natural disaster, we are prepared to extend any assistance with rescue and relief which you may deem appropriate," Singh said.

US President George W. Bush said help was on the way to victims of what he called a "horrible tragedy" while in Brussels the European Union earmarked three million euros (3.6 million dollars) for the rescue effort.

Rescue effort

"The people of the United States offer our deepest sympathies for the loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake that struck outside of Islamabad," Bush said.

UN chief Kofi Annan said he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction" caused by the earthquake, as the world body rushed an emergency team to Pakistan to coordinate rescue efforts.

In Britain, which has a sizeable Pakistani community, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the government was prepared to respond to "all demands" for help and expressed "sadness" at the disaster.

Britain, along with France and Japan, dispatched specialist rescue teams with sniffer dogs and special cutting equipment to Pakistan.

The US Geological Survey and the Pakistan Meteorological Department said the quake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale while the Japanese Meteorological Agency put it at 7.8.

Kashmir is well known to be a high-risk area for earthquakes as it lies in the collision zone of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates which created the mighty Himalayas 50 million years ago.

AFP