Mumbai: Afghanistan’s state-run news agency has reported that at least 155 people have been killed in an earthquake in the country’s eastern Paktika province. The earthquake of magnitude 6.1 shook parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan early Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Information about the magnitude of the 6 quakes that struck Paktika province is scarce, but it comes as the international community drew sharp criticism from the international community following the Taliban’s takeover of the country last year amid a chaotic return from the longest war in US military history.
This could make any relief effort difficult for this country of 38 million people.
The state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the death toll and said rescue teams were arriving by helicopter. The news agency’s director-general, Abdul Wahid Ryan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses were destroyed in Paktika and dozens were buried under rubble.
“A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses,” Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, separately wrote on Twitter. “We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.”
The Meteorological Department of neighbouring Pakistan put the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.1. Tremors were felt in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and other parts of East Punjab province.
Follow us on Twitter, Google News and Instagram, and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and exciting stories.
