Friday, March 29, 2024

Strong earthquake kills at least 280 in Afghanistan

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An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 killed at least 280 people in Afghanistan early on Wednesday, officials said, adding that hundreds of people were injured and the toll was likely to rise as information trickled in from remote mountain villages.

The quake struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, at a depth of 51 km, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

"Strong and long jolts," a resident of the Afghan capital, Kabul, posted on the website of the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

"It was strong," said a resident of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Shaking was felt by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, the EMSC said on Twitter.

Photographs on Afghan media showed houses reduced to rubble.

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The head of the Taliban administration's natural disaster ministry, Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, said the majority of deaths were in the province of Paktika, where 100 people were killed and 250 injured.

Read Minister calls for precautionary measures as flood fears mount

Another 25 people were killed in Khost and five in Nangarhar province, he said, adding that investigations were being conducted to determine if there were more casualties.

As per Reuters, there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in Pakistan. However, according to local media reports, at least one death has been recorded in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The disaster comes as Afghanistan has been enduring a severe economic crisis since the Taliban took over in August, as U.S.-led international forces were withdrawing after two decades of war.

In response to the Taliban takeover, many governments have imposed sanctions on Afghanistan's banking sector and cut billions of dollars worth of development aid.

PM Shehbaz offers condolences

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives and destruction caused in Afghanistan, particularly in Paktika, due to the earthquake, and prayed for the departed souls and their families.

"We stand with our Afghan brothers and sisters in this time of need," the premier said in a statement.

Shehbaz said Pakistan will help Afghanitstan in anyway it can, adding that the concerned authorities have been directed to provide aid to Afghanistan.


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