950 people were killed in a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan early Wednesday, disaster management officials said, more than 600 were injured and the toll is expected to rise as reported from remote mountainous villages.
Photos on the Afghan media showed houses buried in rubble, and bodies wrapped in blankets.
Salahuddin Ayubi, an interior ministry official, said helicopters were deployed in the rescue effort to reach the injured and fly in medical supplies and food.
“The death toll is likely to rise as some villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect the details.”
Ayubi said most of the deaths were confirmed in the eastern province of Paktika, where 255 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. In Khost province, 25 people had died and 90 were taken to hospital.
Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the ruling Taliban, offered his condolences in a statement.
Wednesday’s earthquake was the deadliest since 2002. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake occurred at 1:54 pm (PST) at a depth of 51, about 44 km (27 mi) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. km. The tremors of the earthquake were felt by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India at a distance of about 500 km.
In Pakistan, tremors were felt in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Kohat, Mohmand, Swat, Buner and other parts of Punjab and KP.
People left their homes in panic and went to safer places. “It was strong,” said a resident of Peshawar.
A report by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disaster Management Authority said that a resident of Lakki Marwat died after the roof of his room collapsed in the earthquake.
The disaster comes as Afghanistan faces a severe economic crisis since the Taliban came to power in August, as US-led international forces retreated after two decades of war.
In response to the Taliban takeover, several governments have imposed sanctions on Afghanistan’s banking sector and cut billions of dollars in development aid.
Humanitarian aid continues and international agencies such as the United Nations operate in the country.
A spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry said they would welcome help from any international organisation.
Large parts of South Asia are seismically active because a tectonic plate known as the Indian Plate is pushing northwards into the Eurasian Plate.
In 2015, an earthquake struck the far Afghan northeast, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and adjacent northern Pakistan.
Pakistan expressed grief
Soon after the earthquake was reported, the Government of Pakistan expressed condolences and sympathies over the loss of life and loss of property in the neighboring country.
according to a radio pakistan report goodPrime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that Pakistan stands with Afghan brothers and sisters in this difficult time and promised to provide all possible assistance.
President Dr Arif Alvi has expressed condolences to the dead and injured. He said, Pakistan stands with the people of Afghanistan in this hour of need.
Separately, a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The people of Pakistan stand in strong solidarity with their Afghan brothers in this difficult time. We have no doubt that the brothers Afghan people are proud of their specialties in this natural Will overcome the effects of disaster. Resilience.”
It added that Pakistani authorities and institutions are coordinating with relevant Afghan institutions to provide necessary assistance in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan said that he had asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to specifically facilitate the provision of all kinds of medical aid to the neighboring country.