At least 200 die as strong quake hits Afghanistan, Pakistan

The quake was about 120 miles deep and caused more than two minutes of sustained shaking felt throughout the region, including Pakistan and India.

A strong quake in northern Afghanistan was felt across much of South Asia today, shaking buildings from Kabul to Delhi and cutting power and communications in a few areas.

The powerful natural disaster killed at least 31 people in Afghanistan, including 12 girls, who were crushed in a stampede while fleeing from their schools. The program also lets press agencies, non-governmental agencies and others contribute to the database and receive updates.

In separate messages to his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts, Amir Mohsen Ziaei expressed condolences over the quake that led to the death and injury of many people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan military spokesman General Asim Bajwa said almost 1,000 were injured. Dozens have been reportedly injured.

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. “I pray for everyone’s safety”, Modi tweeted.

The toll from Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province was likely to rise as reports came in from remote areas.

The quakes epicentre was located near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 kilometres from Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 kms, according to the US Geological Survey.

At least 52 people have died in Afghanistan and 167 in Pakistan, according to officials in each country.

The quake was said to be one of the most powerful ever recorded in Pakistan’s history. In September 2013, a magnitude-7.7 quake struck Pakistan’s Balochistan province, killing at least 376 people. Seventy-one of those deaths were in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 18 in the federally administered tribal areas, four in the Gilgit-Baltistan region and one in Punjab.