Earthquake Shakes Afghanistan: A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale shivers Afghanistan early Wednesday claiming more than 900 lives and counting and over 600 people were seriously injured, officials said.
The death toll may rise owing to the less information flow from isolated mountain villages. According to the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), the quake occurred about 44 km from the city of Khost which is near to Pakistani border.
The interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi said that most of the death occurred in the eastern city of Paktika after which rescue operation started and rescuers arrived at the point of impact with the helicopters.
In a Twitter statement by state-run Bakhtar news agency’s director-general Abdul Wahid Rayan, he wrote; “Severe earthquake trembled four districts of Paktika province, claiming and injuring hundreds of people and destroying dozens of properties.”
According to the European Seismological Sgency (EMSC), the earthquake shakes were experienced over 300 miles (around 500 km) by 119 million people across three nations that are Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
However, no such casualties have been reported in Pakistan.
The epicentre of the earthquake was around 44 km southwest of the Khost district and occurred at a depth of nearly 50 km at around 1:55 am (local time), as stated by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).
The region around Afghanistan and Pakistan lies in the seismic active zone where the Indian tectonic plates often collide with Eurasian plates in the north, thus making it more vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.
It often experiences major earthquakes. The most deadly Earthquake that hit the nation in the year 1998 when two separate quacks with 5.9 magnitude and 6.1 magnitudes on the Richter scale claimed more than 7,000 lives.
Rural areas of Afghanistan where the houses are not perfectly built suffer the most when Earthquakes occur.
By: Mohit Singhal
