Western India was hit by tragedy last Friday when a powerful earthquake shook Gujarat state, close to India's border with Pakistan. It was India's most intense earthquake in more than 50 years.

In Ahmedabad, a city of more than 4 million people, the earthquake knocked out power, phone lines and water service. At least 50 skyscrapers collapsed. As of Friday afternoon, more than 2,000 people had died. Thousands more were reported missing.

The center of the earthquake was in the desert town of Bhuj. Ahmedabad reportedly suffered the most damage, but people felt tremors hundreds of miles away in the capital city of New Delhi and even in Bangladesh.

The quake struck as Indians in many cities were beginning celebrations for Republic Day, which marks the day India became a democratic republic.

The government sent help to Gujarat. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee urged "all people to rally together."

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