ISLAMABAD: At least 12 people were killed Afghanistan and Pakistan after a 6.5-magnitude quake that struck the two neighboring nations, with tremors also felt across north India.
The epicentre of the Tuesday night tremor, at a depth of 187.589 kilometres, was initially identified as being near Jurm, Afghanistan, at 36.5227 degrees north latitude and 70.9787 degrees east longitude, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
As per a statement released on Wednesday by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disaster Management Authority, five men, two women, and two children died in the Pakistani province. At least 21 women, 19 men, and 7 kids were hurt as well and taken to various hospitals for treatment.
Roads in the city of Abbotabad and the Karakoram Highway in the Kohistan region of Harban have also been blocked by the ensuing landslides.
The earthquake was also felt in significant Pakistani cities such as Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar, Haripur, Mardan, Chitral, and Charsadda.
Videos from Islamabad show terrified residents of high-rise buildings in particular scrambling out of their homes, according to Dawn news.
Initial reports state that structures in Islamabad and Rawalpindi's Al-Janaat Mall have developed cracks.
Hospitals in northwest Pakistan were placed on emergency status after the earthquake, and emergency response centres were established.
The National Disaster Management Authority and other organisations were instructed by the prime minister Shahbaz Sharif to be prepared to handle any emergency.
In the meantime, two fatalities were recorded in the Afghan province of Takhar, and a third was reported in the province of Laghman.
At least 44 people were also injured, according to the Public Health Ministry's spokesman Sharafat Zaman Amar, who also noted that given the ongoing search and rescue efforts, the number of fatalities could rise.
The concerned organisations are to give humanitarian relief to the impacted families, according to acting interior minister Sarajudin Haqqani.
The earthquakes were felt powerfully throughout north India, from Kashmir to Delhi-NCR, and tales of people reporting fans and appliances swaying flooded social media while many people fled their homes.
There were no reports of any casualties or injuries in India.
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