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7.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Afghanistan, casualties reported

The magnitude 7.6 earthquake that hit Afghanistan was felt across East and Southeast Asia. Above, people are seen standing on a road after vacating buildings following the earthquake in Srinagar, Kashmir, October 26, 2015. (Photo by Reuters)

An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale has struck in northeastern Afghanistan, sending tremors that were felt in neighboring Pakistan and India.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said on Monday that the quake was centered near Jarm, 250 kilometers (160 miles) from the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The head of Nangahar provincial hospital said five people had died and 55 were injured in the quake.

At least 12 schoolgirls were killed in a crush in Takhar Province, west of Badakahshan, as they rushed out of the shaking buildings, the provincial governor spokesman said. 

Sonatullah Taimor said another 30 girls have been taken to the hospital in the provincial capital of Taluqan.

Cellphone coverage in the quake-affected areas were down following the quake, which struck almost six months after Nepal suffered its worst quake on record, leaving 9,000 people dead.

Casualties in Pakistan

At least 45 people, including 8 children, have been reported killed in northwestern Pakistan as a result of the earthquake so far.

The deaths were reported mainly in the Bajaur tribal region and at Swat Valley.  

A government official said people were pouring into Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

"We received 50 injured and more are being shifted. The injured suffered multiple injuries due to building collapse," hospital spokesman Syed Jamil Shah said.

Another Pakistani official said more than 100 people were also injured in the northern Swat Valley.

Muhammad Sadiq, the head of emergency services at a local government hospital, added: "Many more injured are still coming to hospital. Many are still under rubble." 

In New Delhi, hundreds of people raced onto the streets, AFP said, adding that the quake was also felt in the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

(This item is being updated.)


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