In the rubble, demolition crews began to tear down buildings Wednesday as hopes of finding more survivors slipped away. Rescue teams made their last rounds with trained dogs and seismographs before departing. Anything between 20,000 and 100,000 dead State officials have counted 7,162 bodies, with 28,830 injured. Officials have said the death toll may be 20,000 and the nation's defense minister says it could rise to 100,000. The latest estimate from the Red Cross falls between those figures Thousands of people are still buried under the rubble.
Seismologists say further tremors are likely.
The quake, which hit as India was marking the 51st anniversary of its transition to a republic, had a depth of 23.6 kilometers, according to the U.S. National Earthquake Information Center. The quake lasted up to 45 seconds near the epicenter, and 20 seconds in some places, and up to a minute in other places. Women and children cry out after losing their houses and belongings An injured man is rescued from a building in Ahmedabad Members of India's Rapid Action Force clear debris under which residents are feared to be trapped. The epicenter was the Rann of Kutch, a desert plateau in western India near the border with Pakistan. The shaking lasted from 20 seconds up to one minute in some places.