Powerful quake strikes Afghanistan, India and Pakistan

Pakistani local media reported a landslide in the Gilgit area, and at least four deaths in the country’s northern regions.

The country’s army chief ordered troops to the areas affected by the ‘quake, which reportedly had the biggest impact in the north, but could be felt across the nation.

This reportedly includes 12 Afghan girls who died in a stampede while attempting to flee from their school.

Buildings in the Pakistani capital Islamabad rattled for at least two minutes, while tremors were also felt in the Afghan capital Kabul.

“We were very scared …”

It said the epicentre was 130 miles deep and 45 miles south of the provincial capital, Fayzabad.

“Northward underthrusting of India beneath Eurasia generates numerous earthquakes and consequently makes this area one of the most seismically hazardous regions on Earth”, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

On October 8, 2005, a 7.6-magnitude quake struck northern Pakistan, killing about 75,000 people. The quake and its aftershocks killed more than 88,000 people and injured more than 69,000 people. It was also felt in Pakistan and northern India. Buildings have been evacuated and communications disrupted in many areas.

Journalist Gul Hammad Farooqi, 47, said his house had collapsed.

‘I was praying when the massive natural disaster rattled my home. “I thought it was the end of the world”, shopkeeper Iqbal Bhat said.

Afghan officials said entire villages were destroyed and warned the death toll could rise significantly, as information on the extent of the loss of lives and damage was trickling in. We are just praying. “A lot of the phone lines are still down”, said Scott Anderson, deputy head of office for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Kabul.

“The quake wrecked huge devastation in a few districts”, said the governor of Badakhshan province, Shah Wali Adib.

Pakistan and the region, along an active continental plate boundary, is often hit by earthquakes.