22 March 2023 07:13 am
At least five people have died after a strong earthquake struck northeast Afghanistan on Tuesday, with tremors felt in cities in Pakistan and India.
The 6.5-magnitude earthquake, 40 kilometers southeast of the town of Jurm, was 187.6 km deep, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The quake killed at least two people in Afghanistan’s northeastern Laghman province, where at least eight more people were injured, according to Shafiullah Rahimi, spokesman for the Ministry of Disaster Management.
And at least three people have died in northern Pakistan, including two children, according to Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial rescue services.
At least another 41 people have been injured in the Kyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been injured, Faizi said.
Ensuing landslides have also blocked roads in the northern Pakistani city of Abbotabad, Faizi said.
Strong tremors were felt in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, according to a CNN team on the ground. Sustained shaking could be felt, and people were seen evacuating their homes as the trees shook. Eyewitnesses in Lahore told CNN the tremors were also felt there.
CNN eyewitnesses also felt tremors in New Delhi and in Srinagar – the largest city in Indian-administered Kashmir – where an eyewitness told CNN that he could see his house shaking, as neighbors evacuated their homes.
Residents in the Pakistani city of Islamabad meanwhile said cracks had appeared in the walls of their homes. (CNN)