Deadly earthquake strikes Afghanistan and Pakistan
The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck northeast Afghanistan on Tuesday could rise dramatically, authorities warned on Wednesday, after tremors were felt in several major Pakistani cities and New Delhi, the capital of India.
At least thirteen people have been confirmed dead as a result of the magnitude 6.5 earthquake that shook northern Afghanistan and Pakistan, causing residents to flee their homes and causing damage to buildings and landslides.
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According to the United States Geological Survey, the epicenter was located 40 kilometers (24 miles) southeast of the Afghan town of Jurm in the Hindu Kush mountain range at a depth of 187.6 kilometers (116 miles).
According to Sharafat Zaman Amar, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, at least four people were killed and 70 others were injured in affected areas across the country.
As search and rescue teams reach more affected villages, however, the number of fatalities may rise, according to Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Disaster Management. Some of the earthquake-affected areas are extremely remote and lack cell phone service, Rahimi noted.
Houses and other buildings collapsed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, killing at least nine people, including two children, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). At least 44 additional people were injured in the province.
Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, driver Noor Wali said he was dining in a restaurant when the tremors began.
“When a restaurant wall collapsed, we fled for our lives. “People were yelling,” he reported. “I was close to the mountain, and it felt as though the entire mountain would collapse into us, while people cried out for Allah.”
Images from the town of Saidu Sharif in Pakistan’s Swat Valley depict ambulances transporting earthquake victims to hospitals as crowds gather outside.
According to Bilal Faizi, spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s rescue services, subsequent landslides also blocked roads in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
The memory of Turkey trembles
In Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, Roheen, 28, said he spent the night in the parking lot of his apartment complex with his family and neighbors.
“We were at home watching television when the earthquake struck. “The first and second tremors were relatively mild, but the third one was so powerful that our dishes began to fall from the kitchen cabinets and our television fell from the wall,” he said.
“I suddenly recalled the earthquake in Turkey and feared that if we don’t act quickly, our apartment will collapse on us.”
On February 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey near the Syrian border, killing over 50,000 people and sending deadly aftershocks throughout the region.
Amanuddin, a 42-year-old resident of Kabul, stated that they are still afraid to return home.
“The earthquakes in Syria and Turkey have not only made us more fearful, but they have also demonstrated that aftershocks can be more dangerous and lethal,” he told CNN. “We did not want to take any chances.” “I do not know if it is safe to return or not. I’ve heard from a few people here that the earthquake caused cracks in their apartments.”
Seismic activity in the region
Strong tremors were felt throughout the region despite the shock’s magnitude. People were seen evacuating their homes as trees shook in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, where a CNN team on the ground experienced sustained shaking. Some residents of Islamabad reported that cracks had appeared in the walls of their residences.
CNN was told by witnesses in Lahore that tremors were also felt there, as well as in New Delhi and Srinagar, the largest city in Indian-administered Kashmir, where one resident reported seeing his house shake as his neighbors evacuated.
The quake occurs less than a year after a deadly quake struck Afghanistan’s east in June 2022, killing more than a thousand people and injuring countless others, exacerbating the country’s already dire humanitarian crisis.
Afghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, with many occurring in the Hindu Kush region along the Pakistani border.
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