A powerful 7.5 earthquake rocked northern Pakistan today killing at least 52 people while nearly 200 others were injured in the tremor with its epicentre in neighbouring Afghanistan. [CSIR - National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad has pegged the intensity of the quake at 7.7.]
The quake’s epicentre was located near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 kilometres from Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 kms, according to the US Geological Survey.
At least 18 people were killed in Peshawar city, according to provincial information minister Mushtaq Ghani. Eight people, including women and children, were killed in Swat, while four people were killed in the Bajaur tribal region after buildings collapsed in the area, the Dawn reported.
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An eight-year-old child was killed in Kallar Kahar, whereas one casualty was also reported from Kasur after the roof of a house collapsed.
A 14-year-old child died in the Islamgarh area of PoK’s Mirpur region after a school wall collapsed. A wall collapsed in Sargodha, killing one woman and injuring 10 people, while three are injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
13 people were killed in Chitral, which is closest to the epicentre of the earthquake while a child died as the roof of a house collapsed in Raja Bazaar area of Rawalpindi.
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Another child was killed after the wall of a school collapsed in Miani Adda area of Punjab’s Chakwal district.
Three people were reported killed in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Several landslides have been reported in mountainous areas of the country, leading to fears that the death toll may increase.
At least 194 injured were brought to Swat’s Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital, which does not have adequate medical facilities.
More than 100 wounded have been admitted to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.
Tremors were also felt in major cities, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Kohat and Malakand.