Quake kills at least 13 in Pakistan, Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD – A magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck much of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan has killed at least 13 people and injured scores in both countries, officials said Wednesday as authorities struggled to collect data on casualties and damages from remote areas.
The temblor rattled this South Asian region late Tuesday, sending terrified residents fleeing from homes and offices. At least nine people died in Pakistan and four in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the magnitude 6.5 quake was 25 miles south-southeast of the district of Jurm in Afghanistan’s mountainous Hindukush region, bordering Pakistan and Tajikistan. The quake struck 116 miles deep below the Earth’s surface, causing it to be felt over a wide area.
The disaster management authority in northwestern Pakistan said nine people died and 47 were injured in various parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Many were hurt when the roofs of their homes collapsed on them.
Sharafat Zaman Amar, a Talibanappointed spokesman for the public health ministry, said the earthquake killed four people and injured 70 in Afghanistan. He said casualties and damages were reported from different provinces. Two people died in the northern Takhar province and one child died in the eastern Laghman province.
More than 200 panicked people were brought to hospitals in the Swat Valley and elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in a state of shock. They were quickly discharged, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s emergency services.
In Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, the tremors sent many people to the streets, some reciting verses from the Quran, Islam’s holy book.
The scenes were repeated in Kabul and elsewhere in neighboring Afghanistan.