ISLAMABAD: At least 12 people were killed in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan alone after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake rattled parts of the country on Tuesday night.
According to the reports coming from different parts of the country, at least 12 persons died in the earthquake-related incidents in KP alone while 175 were injured. BBC Urdu quoted the provincial disaster management authority officials as saying that district Swat recorded majority deaths; seven while also recording 90 injuries.
The US Geological Survey said the quake with its epicentre being the Hindu Kush region, rocked Afghanistan and parts of India as well, including New Delhi. It said the quake epicentre was 40 kilometres south-southeast of the Afghan town of Jurm.
An interim report from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Disaster Management Authority said that two people died and six people were injured in the incidents of wall, roof and house collapses while eight homes were partially damaged in the province. According to the health ministry, one person died of heart attack during the earthquake in Islamabad.
150 injured in earthquake
According to Swat District Police Officer Shafiullah Gandapur, two people died in the district while 150 were injured, adding that they were moved to Saidu Teaching Hospital for treatment.
Radio Pakistan quoted PMD DG Mahr Sahibzad Khan saying that earthquake tremors were felt in Islamabad, Lahore Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lakki Marwat, Quetta, Kohat, South Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan and other areas of the country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and other institutions to be ready to deal with any emergency.
A spokesperson for the health ministry said that major government hospitals in the capital will remain on high alert. According to AFP, witnesses said that the strong earthquake which lasted for at least 30 seconds was felt across much of Pakistan on Tuesday night. “People ran out of their houses reciting the Qur’an,” an AFP correspondent in Rawalpindi said, with similar reports coming from Lahore, Islamabad and elsewhere in the country.
TV footages showed citizens out on the streets from their homes and buildings after the quake shocks were felt.
