Afghanistan earthquake region 10.26.15
The massive quake's epicenter was in northern Afghanistan, but tremors could be felt across several countries. VPC
Scores dead as magnitude-7.5 quake hits Afghanistan
Scores of people have died after a magnitude 7.5. earthquake struck Afghanistan on Monday, causing deaths in neighboring Pakistan and tremors in northern India.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake was in the far northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, which borders Tajikistan and China.
"Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread," the USGS said.
Pakistani officials said the quake killed 145 people in northwestern Pakistan, bringing the total death toll from the disaster to 180, the Associated Press reported.
Agence France-Presse said the quake lasted for at least a minute.
In Afghanistan's Takhar province, west of Badakhshan, at least 12 students were killed in a stampede at a girls’ school and at least five people died when homes collapsed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, the AP reported.
At least 194 injured people were taken to a hospital in the Swat district of Pakistan and over 100 were taken to a hospital in Peshawar, northern Pakistan, the website Dawn reported. Arbab Muhammad Asim, district mayor of Peshawar, said: “"Many houses and buildings have collapsed in the city," AFP said.
People in Afghan capital Kabul, India's capital New Delhi and Pakistan's capital Islamabad reported feeling strong tremors. In Islamabad, walls swayed and people poured out of office buildings in a panic, reciting verses from the Quran, the AP said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked authorities to use all resources to help any victims, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has asked for an urgent assessment. The quake caused widespread power outages and cut phone lines in Kabul, according to the AP.
Delhi's metro stopped running during the tremor.
"All of around 190 trains plying on the tracks were stopped at the time of the earthquake. The lines and the trains are now being restored after basic inspection of respective lines," Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal told AFP.
In October 2005. a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the Kashmir region rocked parts of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, killing more than 80,000 people.
