KABUL, June 22: The toll in the earthquake in Afghanistan on Wednesday morning has gone up to 1,000 dead and 600 injured, according to unofficial reports. The epicentre was 35 km from Pakistan border and 60 km from Tajikistan. Pakistan too has been affected.
“So far the information we have is that at least 920 people have been killed and 600 injured,” Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim, Deputy Minister of Disaster Management, told a news conference.
The powerful quake struck 45 km south-west of the town of Khost, south of Capital Kabul, at 1:24 am, in the eastern province of Paktika, bordering Pakistan. The
quake was of magnitude 6.1 on Richter scale and rocked remote parts of Afghanistan
and neighbouring Pakistan. The deaths mostly occurred in Paktika.
A shallow depth of the epicentre at 10 km led to higher casualties, it was
stated.
The quake struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani
border, the US Geological Survey (USGC) said.
Helicopters were being used for rescue operations.
An Afghan foreign ministry spokesman said they would welcome help from any
international organisation for quake relief.
After Taliban takeover, Afghanistan has been depending on international aid
for essentials as the economy is in bad shape.
An earthquake had killed hundreds of people in Afghan northeast and nearby
Pakistan in 2015.
