At least 13 people are confirmed dead after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck northeast Afghanistan on Tuesday with officials warning the toll could grow much higher as tremors continue to rock the region Wednesday.
The earthquake, centered in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan, could be felt across the northern regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, damaging buildings and initiating rock slides that sent citizens running from their homes, CNN reported. Motion from the quake could reportedly be felt as far way as the Indian capital of New Delhi, according to Reuters.
Earthquake in Afghanistan kills at least 13, nine of them in Pakistan https://t.co/rbifZ0H5xj pic.twitter.com/kjfLS9Z81i
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 22, 2023
Afghanistan officials have recorded at least four deaths and 70 injuries since the quake, but warn that the number of casualties could grow as search and rescue teams continue to work across the region, some parts of which are so remote that they lack cell phone service, Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Afghanistan’s Ministry of Disaster Management, told CNN.
In Pakistan, officials have reported the deaths of at least nine people, including two children, after houses and other buildings collapsed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the outlet reported. The quake also caused a 295-foot-long wall around a police station in the province to collapse, Reuters reported. The number of injured in Pakistan stands at 44, according to CNN.
For some affected by the quake, memories of the devastation caused by recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria kept them on high alert throughout the night, as they camped outside with their families in the parking lots of their apartment buildings in Kabul. (RELATED: Turkey Suffers Yet Another Earthquake, Injuring Over 69 People)
“We were watching TV at home when the earthquake happened. The first and second jolts were not too bad, but the third one was so strong that our dishes started falling from the kitchen cabinets and our TV fell from the wall,” 28-year-old Rouen told CNN. “I suddenly remembered the earthquake in Turkey and thought that our apartment would fall down on us if we don’t act quickly.”
This latest earthquake is the first to rock the region since June 2022, when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck in the southeastern part of Afghanistan, killing more than 1,000 people, CNN reported.