Afghan quake rocks Asia, dozens dead

Relief groups’ efforts to assess the damage were hindered by an unstable security situation that has left much of the affected areas unsafe for worldwide aid workers and government troops.

At least 228 people were killed in Pakistan, 33 in Afghanistan and 2 in Indian-controlled Kashmir, according to figures compiled by the Associated Press.

“When the aggrieved relatives of the dead students came to collect their bodies, they were so distressed that they could not even talk to authorities to record their names”, said Hafizullah Safai, head of the Takhar health department.In Pakistan, several buildings have collapsed in Chitral, Swat, Shangla, Dir and Buner districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In one of the worst incidents, at least 12 girls were killed in a stampede to flee their school building in the north-eastern Afghan province of Takhar, just west of where the tremor’s epicentre was located.

Taliban-led insurgents have used its remote valleys as cover recently to seize districts as they spread their footprint across the country.

“I could see homes, buildings shaking”.

He had earlier called an emergency meeting of disaster officials, which was broadcast live on television. He said food, blankets and tents were in short supply, though people had been warned to sleep outside – in near-freezing temperatures – in case of aftershocks.

Although powerful, Monday’s natural disaster, at around 132 miles (212 km) below ground, was far deeper than the recent temblor that devastated Nepal in April, as well as the 2005 Kashmir quake that killed more than 80,000 people. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the USA government has been in touch with officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan and is ready to provide any additional support.

INDIA OFFERS HELPING HAND: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday offered assistance to Afgha-nistan and Pakistan. Modi also spoke to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif and expressed his sympathies and condolences. In the capital, Islamabad, buildings shook and panicked people poured into the streets, many reciting verses from the Koran.

Pakistan will not issue any appeals to the worldwide community for help as the country has the required resources to carry out the rescue and relief work, said Information Minister Pervez Rashid. “Our top priority is to help those affected because of the natural disaster”, he told a news conference.

The 7.5 magnitude quake in northern Afghanistan caused more than 150 deaths.

The US Geological Survey put the epicentre of Monday’s quake near Jarm in Afghanistan’s northeast, 250km from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213km. “I thought it was the end of the world”, shopkeeper Iqbal Bhat said.

Reports coming of damage and injuries in north eastern Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of Afghanistan, said in a tweet.

Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.