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Scores killed in east Afghanistan earthquake

 

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake that struck in eastern Afghanistan, and was felt in parts of Pakistan and India, has killed at least 255 people.

The majority of confirmed deaths were in the Afghan province of Paktika.
The majority of confirmed deaths were in the Afghan province of Paktika. (Reuters Archive)

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 has shaken parts of densely populated Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has said with Afghanistan's state-run news agency reporting at least 255 people have been killed in the country’s east.

Wednesday's quake struck about 44 kilometres from the city of Khost in eastern Afghanistan at a depth of 51 kilometres, according to the USGS.

The majority of confirmed deaths were in the Afghan province of Paktika, where at least 100 people were killed and 250 injured, said Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, the head of the Taliban administration's disaster management authority.

“A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses,” Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, wrote on Twitter.

“We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.”

The state-run Bakhtar news agency's director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble.

Deaths were also reported in the Afghanistan's eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Khost, he added, as authorities check for further casualties. 


 

'Strong and long jolts'

Shaking was felt over some 500 kilometres by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said in a tweet.

It was felt in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, as well as Pakistan's capital, Islamabad and elsewhere in the eastern Punjab province, according to witness accounts posted on the EMSC website and Twitter.

"Strong and long jolts," one witness posted on EMSC from Kabul. "It was strong," another witness posted from Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan.

Footage from Afghanistan's Patika province near the Pakistan border showed victims being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area.

There were no immediate reports of damage or deaths in Pakistan and India.

The chaotic withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan last year will likely complicate any relief efforts for the country of 38 million people. 

Source: Reuters

 

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(With input from news agency language)

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