Massive quake shakes South Asia

More than 200 people have reportedly been killed after an natural disaster of 7.5 magnitude struck Afghanistan, with the effects felt hundreds of miles away.

Rescue teams have been sent to remote mountainous areas in both countries, where the effects of the quake are still unclear.

Strong tremors were also felt in the Indian and Pakistani capitals, New Delhi and Islamabad, residents said, as authorities in the two neighbouring countries issued warnings for strong aftershocks.

“I was in my auto, and when I stopped my vehicle, the auto itself was shaking as if someone was pushing it back and forth”. USGS said it was 213 kilometers (132.3 miles) deep and 73 kilometers (45 miles) south of the Badakhshan capital, Fayzabad.

As the U.S. Geological Survey summed up the power of the natural disaster: “Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread”. Horrifying news emerged of at least 12 schoolgirls being trampled to death in the northern Afghan province.

Troops and military doctors had reached the quake zone and were engaged in rescue work, Pakistani army spokesman Lt. Gen. Asil Saleem Bajwa said.

Given the difficulty in accessing most of these areas because of the rugged terrain, it could be days before the full impact of the quake is known.

The death toll in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is 96, with 5 killed in Punjab, and 4 in PoK, the Dawn reported.

Update 10:54 PM AEDT: The Guardian is now reporting that at least 43 people have been killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In Afghanistan, worldwide aid agencies working in northern areas reported that cell phone coverage in the affected areas remained down in the hours after the initial quake. But local news organizations were reporting that the damage in a few areas across Afghanistan and Pakistan could be extensive, and that hospitals across the region are on standby to treat victims.

At least 1,000 more were injured and hundreds of homes destroyed as the quake shook a swathe of the subcontinent, sending thousands of frightened people rushing into the streets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.