Earthquake kills 920 in Afghanistan

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed 920 people in Afghanistan on Wednesday, according to officials, adding that at least 610 people were injured and the toll is likely to increase as information arrives from remote mountain villages.

The earthquake struck approximately 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, according to the US Geological Survey (USGC).

“Strong and long shaking”, a resident of the Afghan capital, Kabul, posted on the site of the European Mediterranean Seismic Centre (EMSC).

“That was strong,” said one resident of the city of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan.

Photographs taken by the Afghan media showed houses reduced to rubble, the bodies wrapped in blankets lying on the floor.

According to a Ministry of the Interior official, Salahuddin Ayubi, helicopters were deployed to help the injured and bring medical supplies and food.

The death toll is likely to increase as some villages are located in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to gather the details.

Earlier, according to Reuters reports, most of the confirmed deaths occurred in the eastern province of Paktika, where 255 people were killed and over 200 injured, Ayubi said. In Khost province, 25 lost their lives and 90 were hospitalized.