In the case of Kashmir, women seem to make up the majority of the death toll. One of the reasons they are saying is that local traditions don't allow women outside of the house uncovered. When the earthquake hit, many of these women did not have a chance to get it together and run outside of the shaking buildings, so they ended up trapped inside.

For a majority of Pakistani women, life is raising children and looking after the home -- where they are almost idolised by the males of the family and treated as queens of their domains.

But this life spent almost in purdah -- an Urdu word meaning "behind the veil" -- condemned thousands of Pakistani women to death when Saturday's deadly South Asian earthquake struck.

Officials say the majority of the estimated 40,000 victims of the 7.6 magnitude quake were women and children.

Doctors say the same of the injured they are treating across the quake's "death zone", stretching from the rugged North West Frontier Province to the lush mountains and valleys of Pakistani- and Indian-controlled Kashmir.

via Reuters...