70 dead as deadly earthquake rocks, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India

At least 70 people are reported dead when a magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck southern Asia on Monday afternoon; the powerful earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, with tremors felt in Pakistan and northern India.

At least 51 people are said to have been killed in Pakistan, with 19 deaths reported in Afghanistan.

The magnitude 7.5 quake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 75km (46 miles) south of Faizabad, the US Geological Survey reported.

Buildings were evacuated in the capitals of all three countries and communications disrupted in many areas.

In the Afghan province of Takhar, a stampede at a girls’ school triggered by the quake left 12 students dead, the provincial governor’s spokesman told the BBC. Another 25 students were injured, Sunnatullah Timour said.

Seven people have been reported killed and 71 injured in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

In Pakistan, 28 people have been killed in the northern tribal areas, another 20 the north-west and three more in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, officials told AFP news agency.
Read also: Breaking… Another earthquake hits Nepal

In the city of Karimabad, in Gilgit-Baltistan, a witness who gave his name as Anas told the BBC that the quake had sent a landslide crashing into the Hunza river.

“At first it was as if someone was shaking us. There were about 20 of us and we just held on to each other,” he said.

“Right after that we saw a major landslide. Some people say it was a glacier that came down, some people say it was a hill. It fell right in front of our eyes.”

Officials said the quake happened at a depth of 212km. The magnitude was initially put at 7.7 but later downgraded.

An aftershock measured at 4.8 magnitude struck shortly afterwards.

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