Mild Quakes Jar Nerves In Karachi

Pakistanis ran into the streets in panic Tuesday as two mild quakes hit, resulting in no known casualties. The effort continues to help the millions affected by Saturday's quake in Kashmir – so serious that India is among the donor nations despite its long-running dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir – which is split between the two neighbors.

The second of Tuesday's quakes, a 4.0 on the Richter scale for strength, shook the city of Karachi.

Supplies from about 30 countries poured in for Pakistan's quake victims Wednesday as the U.N. warned of measles outbreaks among the millions of homeless and hopes dimmed for finding more survivors under the rubble. The death toll there is believed to be more than 35,000.

Also Wednesday, U.S., Pakistani, German and Afghan helicopters resumed aid flights that had been suspended Tuesday due to stormy weather.

Wednesday, Indian military helicopters resumed drops of urgently needed supplies to earthquake survivors in inaccessible areas of Indian Kashmir, after nearly 12 hours of disruption caused by torrential rain and snow.

Saturday's 7.6-magnitude quake killed at least 1,555 in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Authorities said Wednesday that 95 more bodies have been found, including seven children who died of hypothermia.

Heavy rains caused further landslides, closing roads and making conditions too dangerous for relief work.

"There was too much mud, our vehicles were sliding on the road ... but today is better," said Mohammed Rafiq, pointing up to the clear blue sky.

Rafiq, a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Liberation Front - a separatist group that favors independence from India - joined others from the organization in handing out clothes and shoes to women and children in the Kashmiri village of Salamabad.

Workers with earthmovers are slowly clearing the road that leads to the Peace Bridge, which connects the two Kashmirs. In some areas the road is buried under some 10 feet of rubble. The bridge itself also collapsed in the earthquake.

The first Indian plane carrying 25 tons of tents, medicines and other relief goods for earthquake victims arrived Wednesday in Pakistan.

Residents in Muzaffarabad, the Kashmiri capital, are desperate, mobbing trucks with food and water and grabbing whatever they can. The weak were pushed aside.

Almost exactly four days after the quake, rescuers pulled a 5-year-old girl from the rubble of her home in the city at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. "I want to drink," Zarabe Shah whispered.

A day earlier, her neighbors had recovered the bodies of her father and two of her sisters, but her mother and another two sisters survived.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita said within the next couple of days there likely would be 25 to 30 U.S. military helicopters sent to Pakistan, from Afghanistan, Bahrain and other countries in the region.

Also heading for Pakistan is Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who is detouring to Islamabad from an already scheduled Asian trip. She plans to avoid the actual quake regions, to make sure she doesn't divert resources from the relief effort.

Rice does not have no specific new earthquake aid offer to Pakistan beyond an initial $50 million but she is predicting more American money will soon be on the way.

The U.N. World Food Program began a major airlift of emergency supplies, and the world body also announced Tuesday it is launching an appeal for some $272 million in aid for the quake victims.

NATO agreed to coordinate an airlift of aid supplies from Europe. Eight U.S. military helicopters based in neighboring Afghanistan shuttled 16 tons of food, water, medical supplies and blankets to quake-hit zones, the military said.

Rescue workers fanned out by helicopter to remote regions of Kashmir. Among them are eight teams from British International Rescue Corps, which has found 16 survivors since arriving in the quake zone nearly three days ago.

In one clinic alone, 2,000 patients have been treated, 400 of them children, most of them suffering from broken arms or legs. It's too early for onset of disease, but officials are fully aware of the potential threat.

The quake has damaged sanitation systems, destroyed hospitals and left many victims with no access to clean drinking water, making them more vulnerable to disease.