Daily Times

PESHAWAR/CHARSADDA: At least four people were killed and many others injured in Pakistan as a powerful earthquake struck South Asia on Sunday.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department said the 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck at around 3:30pm at a depth of 236 kilometres with its epicentre in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), however, measured the magnitude of the quake to be 6.6 and said the epicentre was Ashkasham in Afghanistan.

At least two died when tremors caused a landslide on the Karakar mountain range connecting Swat and Buner.

Two others passed away in Shahqadar Shahbaz Khan Korona of district Charsadda when a boundary wall collapsed.

The earthquake hit parts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border,shaking buildings in the Afghan and Pakistan capitals, witnesses and the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Tremors were also felt in the Indian capital and in Kashmir, witnesses said, forcing residents to leave homes.

In Pakistan, shocks were felt in Murree, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Gilgit-Baltistan, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Swat, Kohistan, Astor, Chitral, Lahore, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar, Islamabad and surrounding areas.

At least 27 people, including women and children, with minor injuries were brought to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar following earthquake in the province.

LRH director for accident and emergency Dr Khalid said all the injured had sustained minor wounds, adding 18 people were discharged following medical assistance at the facility.

Spokesperson for Rescue 1122 Bilal Faizi said they did not receive any information on damages due to the earthquake.

At least five people including two women and children were reportedly stuck under the rubble when a roof fell in Dogdarra area of Upper Dir.

“Continuous rain had made the roof already weak by it collapsed during the earthquake,” police officials from the area said.

Telephone networks have reportedly been disrupted in the affected areas and an emergency has been declared at all hospitals across KP. The quake was felt for a few seconds in Kabul, where some residents evacuated apartment blocks after tremors shook ceiling fans and furniture. The quake was also felt in New Delhi, where buildings in the centre swayed and the metro train system was halted temporarily as a precaution. People rushed out of their homes in the northern region of Indian-occupied Kashmir.