Afghanistan: Over 1,000 Dead, 1,500 Injured In Massive Earthquake. Tremors Felt In Pakistan

Afghanistan Earthquake: The death toll, as quoted by Afghan emergency official Sharafuddin Muslim, makes it the deadliest quake since 2002, when a 6.1 magnitude temblor killed about 1,000 people.

New Delhi: Over 1,000 people were killed and over 1,500 injured after an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 jolted parts of Afghanistan in the early hours of Wednesday, AP reported. The earthquake struck about 44 km from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, the US Geological Survey (USGC) said. Officials warned that the toll would rise.

Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said hundreds of houses were destroyed and the death toll was likely to rise. The tremors were felt over a range of some 500 km by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, said the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

The death toll, as quoted by Afghan emergency official Sharafuddin Muslim, makes it the deadliest quake since 2002, when a 6.1 magnitude temblor struck northern Afghanistan.

Photographs on Afghan media showed houses reduced to rubble. The state-run Bakhtar news agency reported that 90 houses were destroyed in worst-hit Paktika and dozens of people were believed to be trapped under the rubble. 

Most of the deaths were reported from the eastern Afghan province of Paktika, Reuters quoted interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi as saying. Local media site Etilaat-e Roz reported a whole village in Gayan had been destroyed.

"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," he further said.

Pakistan media reported a mild intensity earthquake in Islamabad and other parts of the country, according to the news agency. Tremors were felt in Lahore, Multan and Quetta. The Namal reported that the earthquake was felt for a few seconds that forced people to move into the streets. However, there has been no loss of life and property reported.

Afghanistan and the larger region of South Asia along the Hindu Kush mountains, where the Indian tectonic plate collides with the Eurasian plate to the north, has long been vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.

Last week, a 5.0 magnitude earthquake jolted several Pakistani cities, including Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and Multan. The shocks were also recorded in Faisalabad, Abbottabad, Swat, Buner, Kohat, and Malakand, according to Geo News reported.

In November 2021, around 20 people were killed and more than 200 injured after a 5.7 magnitude quake struck southern Pakistan after a deadly earthquake hit Balochistan province. Many of the victims died when roofs and walls collapsed because of the earthquake with a power cut forcing health workers to treat the injured using flashlights.

The worst-affected area was the remote mountainous city of Harnai, where a lack of paved roads, electricity, and mobile phone coverage hampered rescuers.