WORLD
Dozens dead as magnitude 7.5 quake strikes Afghanistan
Baku, October 26, AZERTAC
Dozens of people have died after a magnitude 7.5. earthquake struck Afghanistan on Monday, causing deaths in neighboring Pakistan and tremors in India, according to usatoday.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake was in the far northern province of Badakhshan, which borders Tajikistan and China.
"Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread," the USGS said.
A Pakistani rescue official said 29 people were killed in northwestern Pakistan, the Associated Press reported.
In Afghanistan's Takhar province, west of Badakhshan, at least 12 students were killed in a stampede at a girls’ school and at least five people died when homes collapsed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, the AP reported.
In Pakistan, state-run TV earlier said that a person died when a roof collapsed in the eastern city of Kasur. At least 194 injured people were taken to a hospital in the Swat district and over 100 were taken to a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistani website Dawn reported.
People in Afghan capital Kabul, India's capital New Delhi and Pakistan's capital Islamabad reported feeling strong tremors. In Islamabad, walls swayed and people poured out of office buildings in a panic, reciting verses from the Quran, the AP said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked authorities to use all resources to help any victims. The quake caused widespread power outages and cut phone lines in Kabul, according to the AP.