Earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, kills at least 13 in Pakistan – Xinhua English.news.cn

According to Xinhua News Agency, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake occurred in northern Afghanistan on the evening of the 21st, affecting many places in Pakistan and felt in many other countries. According to new news released by the two countries, the earthquake has killed at least 13 people and injured hundreds in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Information Network, the earthquake occurred at 21:17 Kabul time on the 21st (0:47 Beijing time on the 22nd), and the epicenter was located 40 kilometers south-southeast of Julm in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan. at a focal depth of 187.6 km.

Officials from the Ministry of Public Health of the interim government of Afghanistan said that the earthquake has killed at least four people in Afghanistan. Mahziddin Ahmadi, an official with the Badakhshan Provincial Information Department, told Reuters that the number of casualties caused by the earthquake in the province was being verified. Some remote mountainous villages do not have access to the Internet or telephone, making it difficult to contact them. The Ministry of Public Health of the interim government expects more casualties. A spokesman said most of the country’s hospitals and clinics were on standby to help.

The quake hit several parts of neighboring Pakistan. According to multiple media reports, in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, cracks appeared in the walls of several apartments, and a large number of people fled from residential and office buildings to avoid danger.

Bilal Faizi, spokesman for Pakistan’s emergency services, said at least nine people were killed after roofs collapsed in several parts of the country’s northwest. According to Agence France-Presse, at least 180 people were injured in the quake in Khyber-Pashtun province and were sent to hospital for treatment. Fortunately, most of them were fine.

The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center said about 285 million people combined felt the quake in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.