{"id":1055,"date":"2015-10-27T12:19:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T12:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.southasiantimes.com.au\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2015-10-31T12:44:58","modified_gmt":"2015-10-31T12:44:58","slug":"south-asia-earthquake-hits-%c2%adafghanistan-pakistan-and-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.southasiantimes.com.au\/?p=1055","title":{"rendered":"South Asia earthquake hits \u00adAfghanistan, Pakistan and India"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"afghanistan_pakistan_earthquake_2015_usgs_png_1203278180\"<\/a>\u00a0A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake has struck in northern Afghanistan and has been felt in a large area from northern India to Pakistan with scores of people killed across the region.<\/p>\n

The US Geological Survey put the epicentre of Monday’s quake near Jarm in Afghanistan’s northeast, 250km from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213km.<\/p>\n

The total death toll stood at 382 with at least 267 people killed in Pakistan and at least 115 more in Afghanistan, according to official reports from the two countries.<\/p>\n

Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, cut short his visit to the United Kingdom to fly home to deal with the emergency.<\/p>\n

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Hikmat Fasi, a resident of Parwan Province in northern Afghanistan, said the quake caused a lot of damage in the area.<\/div>\n
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“We are safe but I saw a lot of buildings collapse,” Hikmat Fasi said. “It [earthquake] caused severe damage to our area. We are just praying.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

According to the Inter-Service public relations office, all military hospitals and helicopters were put on standby and high alert.<\/p>\n

Strong tremors were also felt in New Delhi and Islamabad, residents said, as authorities in India and Pakistan issued warnings for strong aftershocks.<\/p>\n

Dozens dead in Pakistan <\/strong><\/p>\n

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said walls in the Pakistani capital swayed back and forth as people poured out of office buildings in a panic.<\/p>\n

Shaukat Iqbal, a resident from Charsadda district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said it felt as if the earthquake “kept getting worse with time”.<\/p>\n

“I could see homes, buildings shaking. We are terrified and I am unable to reach my family living in Malakand district. All phone lines are shut.”<\/p>\n

Waqas Habibi Rana, a resident from Lahore, said many people fled their homes and office buildings as the city was hit by the tremors.<\/p>\n

“As soon as we felt the first tremor we stepped out of our home. It stopped for a few seconds, but started again,” said Waqas.<\/p>\n

“The third tremor was really severe. It was by far the worst earthquake I have ever experienced in Pakistan. Everyone was scared and praying. It has triggered landslide in Baltistan [a mountainous region in Pakistan situated in the Karakoram mountains just to the south of K2], Waqas added.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera’s Nidhi Dutt, reporting from New Delhi, said many residents of the Indian capital had already moved back into their buildings.<\/p>\n

“The city’s metro system was still down as part of the security measures,” Dutt reported.<\/p>\n

Source: Aljazera, Escrambray<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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