7.5-magnitude quake jolts South Asia; 70 dead

KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake killed at least 70 people, including 12 Afghan girls who were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their collapsing school, as it rocked South Asia on Monday.

Thousands of frightened people rushed into the streets across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India as the quake was felt across a swathe of the subcontinent.

The quake was centered near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250

kilometers from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicenter is just a few hundred kilometers from the site of a 7.6-magnitude quake that struck in October, 2005, killing more than 75,000 people and displacing some 3.5 million more, although that quake was much shallower.

The death toll rose rapidly amid reports of buildings reduced to rubble, with Pakistan heavily hit.

Horrifying news emerged of at least 12 school girls being trampled to death in the northern Afghan province.

“The students rushed to escape the school building in Taluqan city (capital of Takhar), triggering a stampede,” Takhar education department chief Enayat Naweed told AFP.

“Twelve students, all minors, were killed and 35 others were injured.”

Separately, in Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan, six people were killed and 69 others were injured, Najeeb Kamawal, head of the local public hospital told AFP.

At least 28 people were known to have died in Pakistan's northern tribal areas, 20 in the northwest, three in Gilgit-Baltistan, and one in Pakistani Kashmir, various officials told AFP.

Eight children were known to be among the dead in Pakistan.

Monday's quake, which lasted at least one minute, shook buildings in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi.

At least one aftershock hit shortly afterwards, with the USGS putting its magnitude at 4.8.

In a statistical prediction on its website, the agency said there was a one-third chance of the number of fatalities climbing to between 100 and 1,000 people, with several million dollars' worth of damage likely caused.

Arbab Muhammad Asim, district mayor for Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, said more than 100 people had been injured there alone.

“Many houses and buildings have collapsed in the city,” he said.

Dr. Muhammad Sadiq, the head of emergency services at a government hospital in Peshawar, confirmed the number of injuries.

“Many more injured are still coming to hospital. Many are still under rubble,” Sadiq told AFP.

Afghanistan's CEO Abdullah Abdullah said reports of damage and injuries were coming in from the nation's northeast.

“Disaster authorities to meet within the hour and respond to the needs,” he tweeted.