Afghanistan: At least 255 dead in major 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 overnight. According to the Afghan state news agency Bakhtar, at least 255 people lost their lives. Authorities of the ruling Taliban spoke in the morning of hundreds of injured and dead and dozens of houses destroyed in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika. Rescue workers are on board helicopters in the accident area.
“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.
According to Pakistani information, the tremors were felt in large parts of the country, in the capital Islamabad and even in Lahore in the east of the country. According to the civil protection authority, local emergency services tried to gain access to the affected remote mountainous region. The Pakistani side initially gave no information on damage and casualties.
