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6.5 magnitude quake sent people running from their homes
At least 12 people have been killed and more than 40 injured after a powerful earthquake rocked much of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The 6.5 magnitude quake damaged buildings, triggered landslides and sent people running into the streets.
It arrived on Tuesday night local time and was centered in Afghanistan’s Jurm Valley, which is prone to earthquakes.
The remoteness of the sparsely populated area is likely to delay relief and rescue efforts.
“It was a terrifying tremor. I have never felt such a tremor in my life before,” Khatera, a Kabul resident, told the AFP news agency after running out of her fifth-floor apartment.
Nine of the confirmed deaths were reported in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Valley region of Pakistan.
Three more died in Afghanistan, the spokesman for the country’s Health Ministry said. A child was among those deaths in Laghman province, near the country’s border with Pakistan, AFP reported.
Many families were outside their homes celebrating the Persian or Norwuz New Year when the earthquake struck.
In neighboring Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called on disaster agencies to take emergency measures to help people.
The tremors were felt over a 1,000 km area stretching across India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center.
Earthquakes are more likely in this region because it lies at the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
With additional reporting from BBC Urdu in Islamabad
