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A 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit Pakistan and Afghanistan on March 21, killing at least 13 people and injuring hundreds, as strong tremors were felt in several states in northern India.
The US Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 6.5 and the Pakistan Meteorological Service a magnitude of 6.8. The epicenter of the earthquake was the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan and Tajikistan.
Nine of the reported deaths were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. At least 44 people were injured as their homes collapsed, according to Pakistan’s disaster management agency.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif said on Twitter that he had ordered the National Disaster Management Agency and other relevant agencies to “be prepared to deal with any emergency” after the earthquake, according to an English translation.
In Afghanistan, at least four people, including children, were killed and 70 injured in the affected provinces, according to Sharafat Zaman Amar, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health appointed by the Taliban.
“Unfortunately, the earthquake was so powerful in most parts of the country that there could be more casualties,” Zaman Amal said, adding that all hospitals and medical facilities are ready to save lives. I added that there is.
Pakistan’s emergency services spokesman Bilal Faij said more than 200 people in shock were taken to hospitals in the Swat Valley and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwestern Pakistan.
“Frightened people fell, some from the shock of the earthquake,” he said. Feiji said most were discharged later.
Earthquakes hit several cities in India, and social media videos showed panicked people fleeing their homes and buildings after the quake shook the region.
The Indian National Center for Seismology said the tremor was felt in northwestern India and Delhi for a “relatively long time” due to the depth of the quake. Hindustan Times report.
“Because the fault is more than 150 kilometers deep, the primary wave was felt first, followed by the secondary wave. Aftershocks are likely now, but cannot be predicted,” said National Seismology. JL Gautam, executive director of the center and a scientist, told the press.
Last year, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck a rugged mountainous region in southeastern Afghanistan, destroying stone and adobe homes. Afghanistan’s Taliban ruler estimates the total death toll from the quake at 1,150, with hundreds injured, but the UN offers his lower estimate of 770.
The latest quake has hit Pakistan as it struggles to recover from last summer’s devastating floods that killed 1,739 people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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