11 killed as sturdy earthquake rattles Pakistan, Afghanistan

“These terrified individuals collapsed, and a few of them collapsed due to the shock of the earthquake,” he stated. Faizi stated most have been later discharged from the hospital.

Faizi and different officers stated 9 individuals have been killed when roofs collapsed in varied components of northwestern Pakistan. Dozens of others have been injured within the quake, which was centered in Afghanistan and likewise felt in bordering Tajikistan. The earthquake triggered landslides in among the mountainous areas, disrupting visitors.

Taimoor Khan, a spokesman for the provincial catastrophe administration authority within the northwest, stated at the least 19 mudbrick houses collapsed in distant areas. “We’re nonetheless gathering information concerning the damages,” he stated.

The highly effective tremors despatched many individuals fleeing their houses and workplaces in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, some reciting verses from the Quran, Islam’s holy e book. Media reviews steered cracks had appeared in some condominium buildings within the metropolis.

In Afghanistan, Sharafat Zaman Amar, Taliban’s appointed spokesman for the general public well being ministry stated, thus far at the least two individuals died and round 20 others have been injured within the earthquake in Afghanistan.

Zaman Amar stated “Sadly, there might be extra casualties because the quake was so highly effective, in most components of the nation” all hospitals and well being amenities are prepared to save lots of lives of individuals, he added.

The scene was repeated in Kabul and different components of Afghanistan.

“The quake was so sturdy and terrifying, we thought homes are collapsing on us, individuals have been all shouting and have been shocked,” stated Shafiullah Azimi, a Kabul resident.

Aziz Ahmad, 45, one other Kabul resident, stated “In my life this was first time I’ve skilled such highly effective quake, everybody was terrified,” He added he and all his neighbors stayed out of their houses for hours, afraid of aftershocks. “We couldn’t dare to get again houses.”

The U.S. Geological Survey stated the epicenter of the magnitude 6.5 quake was 40 kilometers (25 miles) south-southeast of Jurm in Afghanistan’s mountainous Hindukush area, bordering Pakistan and Tajikistan. The quake struck 188 kilometers (116 miles) deep under the Earth’s floor, inflicting it to felt over a large space.

Doctor Rakhshinda Tauseed was at her hospital within the jap Pakistani metropolis of Lahore when the earthquake hit. “I shortly requested sufferers to go transfer to a safer place,” she stated.

Khurram Shahzad, a resident in Pakistan’s garrison metropolis of Rawalpindi, stated he was having dinner together with his household at a restaurant when the partitions began swaying.

“I shortly thought that it’s a massive one, and we left the restaurant and got here out,” he instructed The Related Press by cellphone. He stated he noticed a whole bunch of individuals standing on the streets.

The scenario was comparable in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the border with Afghanistan, the place individuals have been seen standing exterior their houses and workplaces.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in a press release stated he requested catastrophe administration officers to stay vigilant to deal with any scenario.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the primary spokesman for the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, tweeted that the Ministry of Public Well being had ordered all well being facilities to be on standby.

The area is susceptible to violent seismic upheavals. A magnitude 7.6 quake in 2005 killed 1000’s of individuals in Pakistan and Kashmir.

Final yr in southeastern Afghanistan, a 6.1 magnitude quake struck a rugged, mountainous area, flattening stone and mud-brick houses. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers put the overall demise toll from the quake at 1,150, with a whole bunch extra injured, whereas the U.N. has supplied a decrease estimate of 770.

Related Press writers Rahim Faiez in Islamabad, Riaz Khan in Peshawar and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.