Earthquake jolts various parts of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Tremors were felt in several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad on Tuesday evening after a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck with its epicentre in Afghanistan.

Strong tremors were reported in Peshawar, Khyber, Mohmand, Abbottabad and Mansehra, where residents rushed out of homes and offices.

Earthquake of magnitude 6.2 shakes upper Pakistan, Afghanistan

According to the country’s seismic centre, the quake occurred at a depth of 12 kilometres.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, though the jolts caused panic in many areas.

More than 1,400 people were killed and over 3,100 injured after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan around midnight on Sunday.

After a 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit struck Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan on Sunday, people have increasingly searched online for ‘earthquake near me’ whenever tremors are felt, reflecting heightened public anxiety in the region.

Death toll from Afghan earthquake crosses 1,400

Meanwhile, Taliban administration in Afghanistan said Tuesday that death toll from the recent earthquake has jumped to 1,411 with rescue efforts facing challenges due to difficult terrain in isolated villages of the country’s mountainous eastern region.

At least 1,411 people have died, 3,124 have been injured and over 5,400 houses have been destroyed, Taliban administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.

More people are feared trapped under rubble, said the Afghan Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian group working in the region. The UN coordinator in Afghanistan said the toll was likely to rise.

Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 6, struck around midnight local time on Monday, at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), with the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar being the worst hit.

Rescue operations were carried out in four badly hit villages in Kunar on Monday and efforts will now be focused on reaching more remote mountain areas, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, the provincial head of disaster management.

“We cannot accurately predict how many bodies might still be trapped under the rubble,” said Ehsan. “Our effort is to complete these operations as soon as possible and to begin distributing aid to the affected families.”

Mountainous terrain and inclement weather have hindered rescuers reaching remote areas along the Pakistani border where the quake flattened hundreds of mud-and-brick homes.

Access for vehicles along narrow mountain roads was the main obstacle, said Ehsan, adding machinery was being brought in to clear roads of debris.

On Tuesday, a line of ambulances was on the damaged mountain road trying to reach Kunar villages, as helicopters flew in, bringing aid supplies and taking the injured to hospitals, according to a Reuters witness.

Some of those injured have been transferred to hospitals in Kabul and the adjacent province of Nangarhar, said Ehsan.

Thousands of children were at risk, the United Nations Children’s Fund warned on Tuesday.