Afghanistan earthquake of 6.1 magnitude claims at least 280 lives

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 that rocked Afghanistan has killed at least 280 people in the country’s east, officials of the interior ministry said on Wednesday, adding that hundreds of people were injured and the toll was sure to grow as reports filtered in from remote mountain towns.

According to Salahuddin Ayubi, an official with the interior ministry, the most of the fatalities were reported in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika, where 255 people had died and more than 200 had been injured.

He reported that 25 fatalities and 90 hospitalizations had occurred in the province of Khost. “Since some of the communities are in isolated mountainous areas and it will take some time to gather details, the death toll is sure to grow.”

Helicopters were being deployed by the authorities to reach the injured and provide food and medical supplies, Ayubi added.

In the meantime, images posted on Afghan media showed houses in ruins and bodies on the ground covered in blankets.

According to US Geological Survey, the earthquake happened at 1:54am (PST), about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, at a depth of 51 km. About 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India felt the earthquake at a distance of about 500 miles.

Panicked people fled their homes in search of safer locations. One Peshawar resident remarked, “It was strong.” However, there were no reports of casualties or property damage right away.

Afghanistan has been suffering under the calamity.