Afghanistan: At least 255 dead in severe earthquake

According to official figures, at least 255 people died in a violent earthquake in the Afghan-Pakistani border region. At least 155 others were injured in the quake in Paktika province.

A violent earthquake shook Afghanistan in the border region with Pakistan late Tuesday evening. According to the Afghan state news agency Bakhtar, at least 255 people were killed. Authorities of the ruling Taliban also spoke in the morning of dozens of destroyed houses in four affected districts in Paktika province. A village was completely destroyed, local media reported.

Rescue workers are on the way to the accident area with helicopters. “We call on the aid organizations to provide immediate assistance to the victims of the earthquake in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe,” Kabul government spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Twitter.

Different indications of strength

The information on the strength of the earthquake varies. While Pakistani authorities gave the quake a magnitude of 6.1, the US Earthquake Monitor (USGS) reported a magnitude of 5.9 and a slightly weaker aftershock. Accordingly, the center of the earthquake was around 50 kilometers southwest of the city of Khost near the border with Pakistan at a depth of around ten kilometers.

Tremors also felt in Pakistan and India

The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center reported that 119 million people in a radius of 500 kilometers in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India felt the force of the earthquake. According to Pakistani sources, the tremors could be felt as far as the capital, Islamabad, and even in Lahore in the east of the country.

Panic broke out in some places, but according to initial information, nothing was known about damage or injuries in Pakistan. According to the civil protection authority, local emergency services tried to gain access to the affected remote mountainous region.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif issued a statement expressing condolences over the earthquake and saying his country would provide aid to the Afghan people.