Earthquake In Pakistan, Afghanistan
Earthquake struck northeast Afghanistan around midnight near the country’s borders with Pakistan as well as Tajikistan, causing buildings in Islamabad to sway and leaving 30 injured in Peshawar.
According to a spokesperson at Peshawar Lady Reading Hospital, “around 30 people have been injured so far till now.” There are further reports of 18 injured in Swat and some other areas.
The earthquake measured a strong 6.9 (Pakistan) magnitude on the Richter scale, DIG MET Department confirmed to all channels. An emergency alert has been issued in the province.
The quake, which measured 203.5 kilometers (126 miles) deep, struck about 280 kilometers northeast of the Afghan capital Kabul at 11:44 pm (1914 GMT), the USGS said on its website.
It caused buildings to sway in Islamabad and other cities, an AFP journalist said, and Twitter users as far away as New Delhi said they felt the quake’s impact.
In October, a 7.5-magnitude quake ripped across Pakistan and Afghanistan, killing almost 400 people and flattening buildings in rugged terrain that impeded relief efforts.
For many in Pakistan, October’s quake brought back traumatic memories of a 7.6-magnitude quake that struck in October 2005, killing more than 75,000 people and displacing some 3.5 million.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
In Nepal a quake in April and a strong aftershock in May killed more than 8,900 people.
