A powerful earthquake that struck a mountainous region of northern Afghanistan killed at least 1,800 people and injured 2,000 more, Afghan officials said yesterday. The Afghan Defense Ministry said 600 bodies had been recovered from villages still shaking from frequent aftershocks.

　　Yusuf Nuristani, a spokesman for the interim Afghan administration, told reporters that Hamid Karzai canceled a trip to Turkey scheduled today to manage the disaster, and that officials were preparing a financial aid package for victims.

　　"We do have many problems to solve," Nuristani said. "The administration is doing the best it can."

　　He put the magnitude of quake on Monday evening at 6.2, although the US Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado measured it at 5.9. It was centered near the town of Nahrin, which was reported destroyed along with five other villages, located 140 kilometers north of Kabul, on the slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains and in a region of 82,000 people hard-hit by drought and food shortages.

　　Officials said many people were at home when the quake struck around 7:30 p.m., and during the frequent strong aftershocks overnight, including one that measured 5.0, accounting for the high death toll, reported The Associated Press.

　　Additionally, the USGS said the quake was shallow, meaning it had the power to cause more damage.

　　"People were caught in their homes," said Nigel Fisher, a senior UN official in Afghanistan, who said many people in the rural area turned in early.

　　Fisher said many people had fled drought and conflictsintosPakistan and many had not yet returned to their homes. "In a sense it's lucky there weren't more people there," he said.

　　Still, ACTED, a private aid organization, estimated 10,000 people had been left homeless, basing its numbers on staffers in the devastated area, while sources in the region said 1,500-2,000 people were missing.

　　By early afternoon, 600 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage of collapsed homes, said Defense Ministry official Mira Jan.

　　"I can say that 90 percent of Nahrin has been destroyed," Jan said. "We asked (peacekeepers) and all other humanitarian non-governmental organizations to help the people there because they lost everything. They need tents, medicines, everything."

　　By late afternoon, about 400 people had been wrapped in white cotton shrouds and buried in and around Nahrin - some of them in mass graves, said Nurullah, secretary of commander Haider Khan, speaking from Nahrin.

　　About 200 wounded were taken to Pul-e-Kumri and Baglan by helicopter, bus and trucks, while some 70 people were treated in Nahrin. But General Khalil, a military commander from Pul-e-Kumri, said they didn't have enough helicopters to transport all the wounded. Roads in the area were blocked by rubble and impassable.

　　"The condition is very terrible," Nurullah said. "The people are in a very bad condition."

　　At the scene, regional commander General Aider Khan said that as many as 1,500 to 2,000 people were missing. Many of Nahrin's residents had to spend the night without food or shelter because nearly all of the homes were destroyed.

　　UN spokesman Yusuf Hassan said five villages in the quake area were destroyed.

　　General Khalil said the town of Nahrin had been wiped out and that "we didn't see any houses standing."

　　Less than 24 hours after the first jolt, the general said that the earthquake area was starting to smell from decomposing bodies.