Powerful earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Severe earthquake in Hindu Kush: Large parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan affected.

A powerful earthquake hit large parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan and parts of India on Tuesday evening. At least nine people were killed and at least 30 injured in Pakistan’s northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the local civil defense agency said.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported that the earthquake in the capital Islamabad was recorded as 6.8 on the Richter scale. The US Earthquake Observatory located the epicenter of the earthquake in the city of Jurm in the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan and reported it as a magnitude of 6.5. The German Research Center in Potsdam (GFZ) said on its website that the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 and was at a depth of 200 kilometers.

An AFP journalist observed people running from their homes to pray in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Similar scenes have been reported in other parts of the country and in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s capital Islamabad was also affected. The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported that the earthquake that occurred there was recorded as 6.8 on the Richter scale.

The Afghan Ministry of Interior said that the damage may have been caused by the earthquake. It issued instructions to the responsible authorities to provide all available resources to the affected population. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far.

Earthquakes are very common in Afghanistan, especially in the Hindu Kush region where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. Because many houses in the poor country are poorly built, tremors often cause severe damage.

Last June, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people. It was the country’s worst earthquake in nearly a quarter of a century. Tens of thousands of people were also made homeless.