An earthquake hits Pakistan and Afghanistan, leaving at least 11 dead | earthquakes

An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale has struck most parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, sending panicked residents fleeing homes and offices, and frightening people even in the most remote villages. Officials said on Wednesday that at least nine people have been killed in Pakistan and two in Afghanistan

More than 200 people have been taken to hospitals in the Swat Valley district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwest Pakistan, in a state of shock, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s emergency services.

“These terrified people collapsed and some collapsed because of the shock of the earthquake,” he said. Faizi said most of them were later discharged from the hospital.

Faizi and other officials said nine people were killed when roofs collapsed in different parts of northwest Pakistan during the quake late on Tuesday. Among the nine dead in northwest Pakistan were five men, two women and two children.

Dozens were injured in the earthquake, which had its epicenter in Afghanistan and was also felt in the border region with Tajikistan.

At least 19 brick houses have collapsed in remote areas, said Taimur Khan, a spokesman for the Northwest Regional Disaster Management Authority. “We are still collecting data on the damage,” he said.

Strong tremors sent many people fleeing their homes and offices in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, some reciting verses from the Koran, Islam’s holy book. Media reports indicated that cracks appeared in some residential buildings in the city.

Sharafat Zaman Ammar, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health appointed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, said that at least two people were killed and about 20 injured in the quake.

“Unfortunately, there may be more victims because the earthquake was very strong, in most parts of the country,” Zaman Amar said.

Shafiullah Azimi, a resident of Kabul, said, “The earthquake was very strong and terrifying. We thought houses were collapsing on us. People were all screaming and shocked.”

The US Geological Survey said the epicenter of the 6.5-magnitude quake occurred 40 km south-southeast of Gorm, in the mountainous Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, on the border with Pakistan and Tajikistan. It added that the depth of the earthquake reached 187.6 kilometers.

Rakhshinda Tuseed, a doctor, said she was in her hospital in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore when the quake struck. “I quickly asked the patients to move to a safer place,” she said.

Khurram Shahzad, a resident of the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, said he was having dinner with his family in a restaurant when the walls started swaying.

“I quickly thought it was a big restaurant, and we left the restaurant and walked out,” he said. He said he saw hundreds of people standing in the streets.

A similar situation was in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the border with Afghanistan, where people were seen standing outside their homes and offices.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had asked disaster management officials to remain vigilant to deal with any situation.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Taliban government in Afghanistan, tweeted that the Ministry of Public Health had ordered all health centers to be on standby.

The region is prone to violent seismic disturbances. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in 2005 killed thousands of people in Pakistan and Kashmir.

Last year in southeastern Afghanistan, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit a rugged mountainous area, flattening homes built with stones and bricks. The Taliban rulers in Afghanistan put the total death toll in the earthquake at 1,150, with hundreds more injured, while the United Nations gave a lower estimate of 770.

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