ISLAMABAD — On Tuesday, a magnitude-6.5 earthquake rocked large parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It sent panicked residents fleeing their homes and offices as well as frightening remote villages. Officials said Wednesday that at least nine people were killed in Pakistan and two in Afghanistan.
According to Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s emergency services, more than 200 people were transported to hospitals in the Swat Valley and other parts of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in shock.
He said, “These terrified people fell and some of them were crushed by the shock of earthquake.” Faizi stated that most of the patients were discharged from hospital later.
Faizi and other officials claimed that nine people died when their roofs fell in different parts of northwestern Pakistan. The earthquake, which occurred in Afghanistan and was also felt at the border with Tajikistan, left dozens of people injured. Traffic was disrupted by landslides that were caused in some mountainous areas.
Nine people died in northwest Pakistan, including five men, two women, and two children.
Taimoor Khan, a spokesperson for the northwest provincial disaster management authority, stated that at least 19 mudbrick houses collapsed in remote locations. He said that they are still gathering data on the damage.
Many people fled their homes and offices in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, after the powerful tremors. Some even recited verses from Islam’s holy text, the Quran. According to media reports, cracks were seen in several apartment buildings.
Sharafat Zaman Amar, the Taliban’s appointed spokesperson for the public health ministry in Afghanistan, stated that at least two people had died and about 20 were injured.
Zaman Amar stated that there might be more casualties because the earthquake was so strong in many parts of the country.
This scene was replicated in Kabul and other parts Afghanistan.
Shafiullah Azimi, Kabul resident, said that the quake was so powerful and frightening, they thought homes were collapsing. People were shouting and shocked.
Aziz Ahmad (45), another Kabul resident said that he and his neighbours stayed away from their homes for hours because they were afraid of aftershocks.
He said, “This was the first time in my life that I experienced such a powerful earthquake. Everyone was terrified.”
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter for the magnitude 6.5 earthquake was located 25 miles south-southeast from Jurm in Afghanistan’s mountainous Hindukush area. This region borders Pakistan and Tajikistan. The earthquake struck Earth’s surface at 116 miles below its surface. It was felt across a large area.
Khurram Shahzad was a resident of Pakistan’s garrison town of Rawalpindi when he noticed the walls start to move while he was eating dinner with his family.
He said via phone, “I quickly realized that it was a large one, so we left the restaurant to go out.” He claimed that he saw hundreds of people on the streets.
In a statement, Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, stated that he had asked disaster management officials to be vigilant in handling any situation.
This region is susceptible to severe seismic upheavals. In Pakistan and Kashmir, thousands were killed by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in 2005.
A powerful earthquake struck southeast Afghanistan last year, flattening stones and mud-brick houses. Taliban leaders in Afghanistan put the death toll at 1,150 with hundreds more hurt, while U.N. estimates that it was 770.
As Pakistan struggles to recover from the devastating floods that killed 1,739 people last summer, the latest earthquake struck Pakistan. The floods that were worsened due to climate change hit the Swat valley in northwest Pakistan.
