KABUL, Afghanistan — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan in a single day, killing as many as 280 folks and injuring greater than 600 others, the nation’s state-run Bakhtar information company mentioned on Wednesday.
The quake struck early Wednesday morning about 28 miles southwest of town of Khost, a provincial capital within the nation’s southeast, the USA Geological Survey mentioned, and it had a depth of about six miles.
Raees Hozaifa, the director of knowledge and tradition within the jap province of Paktika, mentioned the earthquake was felt throughout a number of provinces, and that demise toll in Paktika alone was at the very least 250 folks.
“We’ve got 250 our bodies, round 150 wounded,” he mentioned, including that greater than 100 properties had been destroyed throughout 4 districts of the province. A rescue effort was underway, he mentioned.
In a single district of Khost Province, northeast of Paktika, the earthquake killed at the very least 25 folks and wounded 91 others, Shabir Ahmad Osmani, the provincial director of knowledge and tradition, mentioned by phone.
The quake struck about 300 miles north-northeast of the positioning of a lethal 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in 2008, the usG.S. mentioned.
The earthquake was felt in Kabul, the Afghan capital, and throughout the northern a part of neighboring Pakistan, based on a map that the European Mediterranean Seismological Middle posted on its web site. The usG.S. mentioned {that a} second, 4.5 magnitude quake struck about 30 miles southwest of Khost about an hour later.
In an announcement, Pakistan’s Overseas Ministry mentioned that it was working to supply help to Afghanistan.The folks of Pakistan stand in robust solidarity with their Afghan brethren on this tough time,” the assertion mentioned.
