Powerful Earthquake Shakes Afghanistan; Death Toll Rises

A strong earthquake shook Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India, cut power and communications in some areas of Afghanistan and killed dozens mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The full extent of the damage and the number of possible casualties was not yet known and the death toll is also expected to rise.

The magnitude 7.5 quake which struck at 1:39 p.m was centered in the province of Badakhshan in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan’s far north, and occurred at a depth of 130 miles (210km).

People poured into the streets of Kabul, where buildings shook for at least two minutes.

Reverberations were felt across several provinces in Afghanistan, particularly in the north.

Reports suggest that the earthquake killed at least 18 people, including 12 schoolgirls while trying to escape from a girls’ school in Taloqan city, north-east Afghanistan, and six people killed in the eastern province of Nangahar.

Sonatullah Taimor, the spokesman for the Takhar provincial governor, says another 30 girls have been taken to the hospital in the provincial capital of Taluqan.

The Chief of Executive Officer, CEO, Abdullah Abdullah has said that the earthquake was “the strongest one felt in recent decades”. He also urged people to stay outdoors for fears of aftershocks.

“Some mobile networks are down and we are still figuring out to main our contacts with the provinces we couldn’t contact so far. We have asked aid agencies to work with Afghan Government, help those in need and come up with their relief packages,” CEO added.

Meanwhile, 28 people were killed in Pakistan’s northern tribal areas, 20 in the north-west, three in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistani officials said. Eight children were known to be among the dead in Pakistan.

Indian officials have also said that two elderly women died from heart attacks suffered during the earthquake, including a 65-year-old woman in the northern Kashmiri town of Baramulla and an 80-year-old in the southern town of Bijbehara.

Earthquakes of this size have caused massive destruction in the past.

The earthquake comes after Nepal suffered its worst quake on 25 April 2015 that killed almost 8,900 people and destroyed about half a million homes.