ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday night killed at least 250 people and injured more than 500 others, Taliban officials said on Monday. The quake’s strong tremors were widely felt across Pakistan, including in the federal capital and major cities of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, sending panicked residents into the streets.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the quake hit at 11:47 pm local time near Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistan border, at a depth of only 8 kilometers (5 miles). Its shallow depth and closeness to populated areas made the tremors more destructive, toppling homes and burying several villages in Kunar province.
In Pakistan, tremors were reported in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Kasur, Attock, Chakwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat, Hassan Abdal, Mianwali, and Phalia, as well as in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad and Bajaur districts, besides parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Hazara division.
There were no reports of major damage or casualties in Pakistan, but frightened residents rushed outdoors, reciting prayers, as aftershocks were also felt. According to USGS, at least five aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.3 to 5.2 struck the region on Monday, raising fears of further collapses in Afghanistan’s already damaged areas.
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Afghan authorities said helicopters were airlifting the injured to Nangarhar Regional Hospital, while rescue efforts continued in hard-hit districts of Nurgal, Sawkay, Watapur, Manogi and Chapa Dara, where many villages remain buried under rubble.
Afghanistan, lying on active seismic fault lines, has suffered repeated deadly earthquakes in recent years. In 2022, a 5.9-magnitude tremor killed around 1,000 people in the east, while in 2023, three major quakes in Herat province left about 1,500 people dead
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