Atleast 180 people have died, mostly in Pakistan, after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake hit north-eastern Afghanistan on Monday. Tremors from the quake were also felt in northern India and Tajikistan.
At least 12 of the victims were Afghan schoolgirls killed in a crush as they tried to get out of their building. The earthquake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 76km (45 miles) south of Faizabad, the US Geological Survey reported.
Over 130 people were killed and more than 1,300 others injured in Pakistan. The temblor collapsed buildings, triggered landslides and stampedes, prompting the government to rush army personnel to the affected areas for rescue operations. Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif flew to some affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to assess the rescue operation in the region that is the worst hit.
"The army chief has landed at Corps Headquarters in Peshawar. Corps Commander (Peshawar Hidayat-ur-Rehman) has briefed him on damage assessment," Director-General of Pakistan military's media wing ISPR Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa tweeted.
The death toll in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is 123, with 5 killed in Punjab, and 4 in the PoK, Pakistani media reported. Over 1,000 people were injured, 956 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone. Malakand Division in the province is the worst hit with 74 dead.
The army chief took aerial view of quake-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was also briefed about army rescue and relief operation. Bajwa also said that Quick Rapid Forces (QRFs) have spread out in respective areas. "QRFs are busy in rescue work mainly in Malakand, Dir, Chitral and Bajaur while continuous damage assessment is under way," he added.
Reportedly, several buildings collapsed in various areas of the province mostly in northern parts in Chitral, Swat, Shangla, Dir and Buner districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said that the quake hit the country at about 2:09 pm local time. Several landslides have been reported in mountainous areas of the country, leading to fears that the death toll may increase.
In Jammu and Kashmir, two elderly women died of cardiac arrest in Kashmir Valley apparently due to panic triggered by earthquake on Monday, which also killed a youth in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. Ten people, including two army soldiers, were injured in the earthquake which rattled the state on Monday afternoon. Nearly three dozen buildings and public infrastructure were also damaged due to it in Kashmir Valley.
Sixty-five year old Zoona Begum of Mohalla Mir Sahab in old town Baramulla suffered a massive heart attack as she was rushing towards a safer place when the earthquake hit around 2:40 PM, police said. Another elderly woman died in similar circumstances in Bijbehara area of south Kashmir's Anantnag district, a police official said. Fatima, 80, of Ahangar Mohalla was pronounced dead by doctors as she was taken to district hospital Anantnag, the official said.
Meanwhile, two army personnel were injured when their bunker collapsed after tremors in Sopore town of Baramulla district, 55 kms from Srinagar. The bunker collapsed inside Ganjoo house, where an army unit is camping, injuring to two soldiers, following which they were taken to the hospital, an official said. He said six persons were reported injured in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, while another person jumped from the window of his house during the tremor and suffered fracture.
Notwithstanding the chill in bilateral ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to Pakistan in the wake of the major earthquake as he called up Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and offered assistance besides condolences for the loss of lives.
"Spoke to PM Nawaz Sharif & expressed condolences on the loss of lives due to the quake. Offered all possible assistance from India," Modi tweeted. Pakistan was severely affected by today's 7.5 magnitude earthquake, whose epicentre was in Jarm area in north Afghanistan.
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