Saturday, October 15 2005 15:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Muzaffarabad (PoK): Heavy rain and cloud today (Oct 15, 2005) halted air operations supplying desperately needed aid to survivors of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's (PoK) devastating earthquake after a cold night rocked by new tremors.

As millions of people spent a seventh night out in the open after their homes were wrecked in last Saturday's (Oct 8, 2005) quake, Pakistani military officers said the vital helicopter-borne aid link had been cut by heavy storms.

"Relief is going on by road but not by air," said Major Farooq Nasir, the spokesman for the army's emergency relief operations in Muzaffarabad, capital of PoK.

He said flights would resume as soon as the weather permitted, but meteorologists in Islamabad forecast showers throughout the morning and possibly again in the evening.

Thousands of destitute people huddled under plastic tents as the rain lashed the city and the surrounding mountains, the foothills of the Himalayas, where many more survivors remained cut off due to collapsed roads and landslides.

With Pakistan and international organisations struggling to cope with the country's worst disaster, helicopters have become the only aid lifeline to remote villages. Nasir said there were 93 helicopter sorties yesterday. The aircraft came from Pakistan, Germany, Switzerland and the United States (US).

A moderate aftershock rattled Islamabad in the early hours today, causing people to run out of their homes for fear of buildings collapsing, witnesses said. The short jolt, measuring 5.0 on the Richter according to the US Geological Survey, hit at around 0106 IST with an epicentre some 130 kms north of Islamabad.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.