Officials have reported that at least 280 people have been killed and hundreds more injured as a result of a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan.
Homes have been devastated in the province of Paktika, and it is thought that dozens of people are buried beneath the wreckage.
According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake struck approximately 27 miles (44km) from the city of Khost, near the country’s border with Pakistan, at a depth of 31.6 miles (51km).
The state-run news agency of Afghanistan, Bakhtar, reported at least 280 deaths.
According to Salahuddin Ayubi, an official from the ministry of the interior, 255 people were murdered and more than 500 were injured in the province of Paktika.
He stated that at least 25 people had been killed and 90 brought to the hospital in the province of Khost.
“The death toll is expected to climb, as several of the settlements are located in isolated mountainous locations, and it will take some time to gather information,” he added.
A video from the Paktika province near the Pakistani border showed victims being loaded into helicopters for evacuation.
Bakhtar shared photographs of ruined stone homes and injured individuals receiving medical care in hospitals.
Its director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, stated on Twitter that 90 homes were demolished in the province of Paktika and that dozens of people are thought to be buried beneath the wreckage.
“A massive earthquake hit four districts in the province of Paktika, killing and injuring hundreds of our compatriots and damaging dozens of homes,” tweeted Bilal Karimi, a Taliban government deputy spokesman.
“We urge all relief organizations to send teams to the area promptly to avert a worsening disaster.”
It follows the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August of last year and the withdrawal of Western forces led by the United States after two decades of conflict.
Its already fragile, assistance-dependent economy has been hammered by Western sanctions on its banking sector and billions of dollars in aid reductions.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) tweeted that around 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India felt tremors over a range of approximately 500 kilometers (310 miles).
They stretched to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, according to witness accounts posted on the EMSC website and Twitter.
“Strong and prolonged jolts,” a Kabul-based witness noted on the EMSC website. Another witness from Peshawar in northeastern Pakistan stated, “It was robust.”
In Pakistan, there were no early reports of damage or casualties.
