Earthquake in Pakistan and Afghanistan kills at least 12 people

A powerful earthquake that shook much of Pakistan and Afghanistan killed at least 12 people and injured more than 200.

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake destroyed buildings, triggered landslides, and threw people into the streets.

On Tuesday night, the strikes focused on the mountainous areas of northeastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.

The tremors from the distant Jurmu Valley were felt as far as India.

“It was a horrible tremor. I’ve never felt a tremor like this in my life,” Hatera, who lives in Kabul, told AFP news agency after she ran out of her five-story apartment.

Nine of the confirmed deaths were reported in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Valley region.

A spokesman for the country’s health ministry said three more people had died in Afghanistan. One of his children was among the dead in Laghman province near the border with Pakistan, AFP said. When the earthquake hit, many families were out of their homes to celebrate the Persian New Year or Norwuz.

The remoteness and rugged terrain of the affected areas can delay relief and relief efforts.

Telephone lines have been affected and landslides have blocked highways in Pakistan’s worst-hit Swat region.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif has called on disaster agencies to take emergency measures to help people.

The tremor was felt over a 1,000km stretch across India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, according to the European Mediterranean Earthquake Center.

The region is located on the boundary between the Eurasian and Indian plates, making it highly prone to earthquakes.

BBC in Islamabad with additional report in Urdu