Survivors of India Quake Cremate Dead, Wait for Help Amid Ruins

Survivors of an earthquake that rocked the Himalayan foothills cremated the dead Monday and salvaged what they could from shattered homes while awaiting help to reach the remote region.

The official death toll was 361, but other estimates were as high as 670.

Thousands of soldiers and medical teams distributed rice, blankets and medicine to survivors huddling outside the ruins of houses or along narrow, winding roads.

Sunday’s quake struck along the Tibetan border in a remote and rugged corner of Uttar Pradesh state. Even under the best of conditions, roads are tortuous, and many were reported blocked by landslides.

State government officials said they have confirmed 361 deaths, while a federal government team reported 415. An Indian Red Cross worker in this town at the center of the devastation said she counted 670 names on death lists compiled by the headmen in 125 villages.

Uttar Pradesh’s top elected official, Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, said at least 1,200 people were injured and 7,000 houses destroyed.

Officials said they expect the death toll to rise, adding that it could be weeks before the extent of damage could be determined.

Indian seismologists measured the earthquake at magnitude 6.1, while the U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 7.1, about 10 times stronger. A reading of 6 is considered a severe earthquake, while 7 or more is a major quake.

In Ganeshpur village on the outskirts of Uttarkashi, a farmer said that his wife, two children and eight other relatives died when the family’s home collapsed. He said he could not find enough wood to build individual funeral pyres, in accordance with Hindu tradition.

“I fell short of wood to cremate all 11 separately, so I had to cremate them in two groups,” Surbir Singh said.

Along the road beyond Ganeshpur, 25 people with broken limbs lay on the ground waiting for transportation.