CNN reported at 11:36 GMT that more than 18,300 people are estimated to have died in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan as a result of the huge earthquake, saying that the numbers are expected to rise once remote areas of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and the country's North-West Province are reached. Reports put the majority of deaths in Pakistan. CNN also reported that the dead included 230 Pakistani soldiers and 250 schoolgirls whose bodies were recovered from a school at Gari Habi Ullaha between Mansehra and Muzaffarabad.

BBC reported that Pakistan put the death toll in the country at more than 19,000, quoting the interior minister as saying that more than 42,000 people are believed to be injured. The report said that the death toll in Indian-administered Kashmir had risen to more than 550, after the bodies of 250 people were found in one town alone.

CWS P/A's relief efforts so far include having moved shelter kits and family food packages to Murree. Relief packages for each family consist of wheat flour (40 kg), rice (15 kg), pulses (7 kg), cooking oil (5 liters), sugar (5 kg), tea leaves (1 kg), salt (1 packet) and a packet of matches.

Working closely with international and local organizations and authorities, the CWS-P/A offices in Karachi, Islamabad, Mansehra and Murree have been organizing relief efforts to address immediate needs of people affected by the quake. Three teams are currently assessing needs and determining what longer-terms response may be needed.

CWS in the US report that long-term response may focus around Manshera and Murree, communities north of Islamabad where CWS has programs, as well as good community connections. Parts of Afghanistan are also affected and CWS staff there will be conducting an assessment in affected regions in the country from its offices in Kabul and Jalalabad.

The earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale struck just before 09:00 on Saturday morning. The jolt lasted 23 seconds and was followed by several aftershocks, forcing people to run out of their homes in panic reports CWS P/A. The epicenter of the quake was 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Islamabad. In a report to the ACT Coordinating Office in Geneva, Switzerland, CWS P/A said that the first tremor rumbled through the country at around 8:55, followed by another after a few minutes.

In an update to the ACT Coordinating Office in Geneva, Switzerland, CWS P/A said that heavy rains had started falling in Mansehra. This could worsen the situation for people stranded out in the open, waiting for help. Due to landslides, the roads leading to the remote areas are also blocked.

The members of Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) called an emergency meeting to assess the situation and plan accordingly. The PHF is chaired by CWS-P/A, and its members include international humanitarian and emergency response organizations in Pakistan. The PHF members have sent out needs assessment teams of which CWS-P/A is a part, to be carried out in the affected areas of Azad Kashmir and North West Frontier Province.

CWS-P/A yesterday (October 8) sent a rapid response fund (RRF) request to the ACT Coordinating Office to initially assist 1,600 families with food items in North West Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir, and is in the process of putting together an appeal to assist 15,000 families with food and non-food items, which will include shelter construction material. CWS P/A is also planning on setting up medical camps in the affected areas to assist approximately 50,000 people.

ACT member Christian Aid reports it's Asia head, Robin Greenwood as saying, "It’s difficult to find out what’s happening in the first hours of an emergency - but our staff on the ground are rapidly assessing the situation." Greenwood said that when it is clear what areas had been affected and which of our partner organizations on the ground were best placed to help, it is likely that funds would be immediately transferred to get the relief effort underway. Greenwood is also quoted as saying that in one of the areas affected by the earthquake "there are further complications. South east Afghanistan is a conflict zone. US forces are fighting Al Qaeda and Kashmir is an area in dispute, tension and military activity between Pakistani and Indian forces."

"It is vital that in both these areas that relief work takes precedence over conflict," Greenwood said.