[TOLONEWS] A magnitude 6.5 earthquake rattled much of Pakistain and Afghanistan on Tuesday, sending panicked residents fleeing from homes and offices and frightening people in remote villages. At least nine people died in Pakistain and two in Afghanistan, officials said WednesdayHappy Ramadan!
More than 200 people were brought to hospitals in the Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
valley and elsewhere in the region of Pakistain’s northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in a state of shock, Bilal Faizi, a front man for Pakistain’s emergency services told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
"These terrified people collapsed, and some of them collapsed because of the shock of the earthquake," he said. Faizi said most were later discharged from the hospital.
Faizi and other officials said nine people were killed when roofs collapsed in various parts of northwestern Pakistain. Dozens of others were maimed in the quake, which was centered in Afghanistan and also felt in bordering Tajikistan. The earthquake triggered landslides in some of the mountainous areas, disrupting traffic.
The nine people who died in northwest Pakistain included five men, two women and two children.
Taimoor Khan, a front man for the provincial disaster management authority in the northwest, said at least 19 mudbrick homes collapsed in remote areas. "We are still collecting data about the damages," he said. On Wednesday
The powerful tremors sent many people fleeing their homes and offices in Pakistain’s capital of Islamabad, some reciting verses from the Koran, Islam’s holy book. Media reports suggested cracks had appeared in some apartment buildings in the city.
In Afghanistan, Sharafat Zaman Amar, Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...’s appointed front man for the public health ministry said, so far at least two people died and around 20 others were maimed in the earthquake in Afghanistan.
Zaman Amar said "Unfortunately, there could be more casualties as the quake was so powerful, in most parts of the country" all hospitals and health facilities are ready to save lives of people, he added.
The scene was repeated in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan.
"The quake was so strong and terrifying, we thought houses are collapsing on us, people were all shouting and were shocked," said Shafiullah Azimi, a Kabul resident.
Aziz Ahmad, 45, another Kabul resident, said "In my life this was first time I have experienced such powerful quake, everyone was terrified," He added he and all his neighbors stayed out of their homes for hours, afraid of aftershocks. "We couldn’t dare to get back homes."
The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the magnitude 6.5 quake was 40 kilometers (25 miles) south-southeast of Jurm in Afghanistan’s mountainous Hindukush region, bordering Pakistain and Tajikistan. The quake struck 188 kilometers (116 miles) deep below the Earth’s surface, causing it to felt over a wide area.