Hundreds die as earthquake rocks Afghanistan, Pakistan

More than 200 people have died, mostly in Pakistan, after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake hit north-eastern Afghanistan. Tremors from the quake were also felt in northern India and Tajikistan. At least 12 of the victims were Afghan schoolgirls killed in a crush as they tried to get out of their building. The earthquake was centred in […]

More than 200 people have died, mostly in Pakistan, after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake hit north-eastern Afghanistan.
Tremors from the quake were also felt in northern India and Tajikistan.
At least 12 of the victims were Afghan schoolgirls killed in a crush as they tried to get out of their building.
The earthquake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 76km (45 miles) south of Faizabad, the US Geological Survey reported.
Buildings have been evacuated and communications disrupted in many areas.
However as the earthquake originated more than 200km (125 miles) below the earth’s surface, the damage is less than that which a similarly powerful but shallow tremor might cause.
In Pakistan, the military said 123 people were known to have died in the north of the country.
Most of those fatalities were in the Malakand region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is cutting short a visit abroad and returning home.
Deaths and injuries have also been reported in the Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Badakhshan and Kunar, with at least 35 killed in total.