Afghanistan earthquake: at least 250 dead after 6.1 magnitude quake

Afghanistan earthquake: at least 250 dead after 6.1 magnitude quake
June 22, 2022, 8:23 am

A Seismograph machine monitors an earthquake vector. (File photo)

Afghan official news agency said on Wednesday (June 22) that a 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck south-east Afghanistan killing at least 255 people.

The US Geological Survey reported, the quake struck early on Wednesday morning local time with its epicentre near the town of Khost south of the capital, Kabul.

Afghanistan’s Bakhtar news agency said on Wednesday morning that at least 255 people were killed and 155 others injured in the Barmala, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts of Paktika province. Rescue teams were being helicoptered into the stricken areas.

Deaths were also reported in the eastern provinces of Khost and Nangarhar, said Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, the head of the Taliban administration’s disaster management authority.

#BREAKING: At least 255 people have been killed and 155 others injured in an earthquake in Barmala, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts of Paktika province on Tuesday night.
Local officials say the death toll could rise if the central government did not provide emergency help. pic.twitter.com/YlByfyArtG
— Bakhtar News Agency (@BakhtarNA) June 22, 2022

Bakhtar said local officials feared the death toll could rise if the central government did not provide emergency help.

Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, wrote on Twitter: “A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses. We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.”

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The meteorological department in neighbouring Pakistan put the earthquake at a magnitude 6.1. Tremors were felt in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere in the eastern Punjab province.

It should be noted that the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre also said that shaking was felt in Pakistan to the east of the quake’s epicentre.

Source: theguardian

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