At least 920 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said.
The quake occurred about 27 miles (44 km) from the city of Khost, near the country’s border with Pakistan, and occurred at a depth of 31.6 miles (51 km), according to the Service. Geological Survey of the United States.
At least 920 people have been killed and 600 injured, an Afghan emergency official said.
Image: Taliban fighters secure a government helicopter to evacuate the wounded in Gayan District, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. Image: Afghan government news agency via AP
“The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are located in remote areas of the mountains and it will take some time to gather details,” said Salahuddin Ayubi, head of the Interior Ministry.
Most of the fatalities occurred in Paktika province. Images from there, near the Pakistani border, showed victims being transported by helicopter to be transported from the area.
Bakhtar news agency published images of the destroyed stone houses and the wounded being treated at the hospital.
Its director general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses were destroyed in Paktika province and dozens of people are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
“A severe earthquake has shaken four districts in Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of compatriots and destroying dozens of homes,” said Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government.
“We urge all aid agencies to send equipment to the area immediately to prevent further disasters.”
Image: Image: Afghan government news agency via AP
It comes amid an economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control in August last year and the withdrawal of US-led international forces after two decades of war.
Its already fragile economy, heavily dependent on aid, has been paralyzed by Western sanctions on its banking sector and billions in aid cuts.
The quake was felt in a range of about 500 km (310 miles) by some 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said in a tweet.
Image: Image: Afghan government news agency
They spread to the Afghan capital Kabul as well as Islamabad in Pakistan, according to testimonies posted on the EMSC website and by Twitter users.
“Strong and long outings,” a Kabul witness wrote on the EMSC website. “It was strong,” another Peshawar witness said in northwest Pakistan.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or casualties in Pakistan.