Hundreds
dead after massive earthquake hits South Asia
More than 330
reported dead in Afghanistan and Pakistan as powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake
rocks South Asia.
A
powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake has struck in northern Afghanistan and has
been felt in a large area from northern India to Pakistan with scores of people
killed across the region.
The US
Geological Survey put the epicentre of Monday's quake near Jarm in
Afghanistan's northeast, 250km from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213km.
The
total death toll stood at 335 with at least 253 people killed in Pakistan and
at least 82 more in Afghanistan, according to official reports from the two
countries.
Nawaz
Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, cut short his visit to the United
Kingdom to fly home to deal with the emergency.
Hikmat
Fasi, a resident of Parwan Province in northern Afghanistan, said the quake
caused a lot of damage in the area.
"We
are safe but I saw a lot of buildings collapse," Hikmat Fasi said.
"It [earthquake] caused severe damage to our area. We are just
praying."
According
to the Inter-Service public relations office, all military hospitals and
helicopters were put on standby and high alert.
Strong
tremors were also felt in New Delhi and Islamabad, residents said, as
authorities in India and Pakistan issued warnings for strong aftershocks.
Dozens dead in Pakistan
Al
Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said walls in the Pakistani
capital swayed back and forth as people poured out of office buildings in a
panic.
Shaukat
Iqbal, a resident from Charsadda district in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said it
felt as if the earthquake "kept getting worse with time".
"I
could see homes, buildings shaking. We are terrified and I am unable to reach
my family living in Malakand district. All phone lines are shut."
Waqas
Habibi Rana, a resident from Lahore, said many people fled their homes and
office buildings as the city was hit by the tremors.
"As
soon as we felt the first tremor we stepped out of our home. It stopped for a
few seconds, but started again," said Waqas.
"The
third tremor was really severe. It was by far the worst earthquake I have ever
experienced in Pakistan. Everyone was scared and praying. It has triggered
landslide in Baltistan [a mountainous region in Pakistan situated in the
Karakoram mountains just to the south of K2], Waqas added.
Al
Jazeera's Nidhi Dutt, reporting from New Delhi, said many residents of the
Indian capital had already moved back into their buildings.
"The
city's metro system was still down as part of the security measures," Dutt
reported.
A massive earthquake
that hit Southern Asia in the area of Pakistan and Afghanistan has killed a lot
of people and wounded a lot more. It was interesting because I read this
headline in the news yesterday and today when I went to CBS news to get the
article at the end it banned all publishing, broadcasting, rewriting or
redistribution of the article. But anyways, I feel like the author wasn't very
biased but rather just showed the statistics of the earthquake and the details
of what happened by interviewing numerous people. It's just sad because the
same areas of the world keep getting hit by the same disasters over and over
and I feel like they don't really get enough time to stand back up. I feel like
the governments of these countries should work harder to protect their people
and they should work to earn the better for their people.
Al
Jazeera and Agencies. "Hundreds Dead after Massive Earthquake hits south
Asia". Oct 26, 2015. Al Jazeera .
Oct 27, 2015. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/massive-earthquake-shakes-south-asia-151026092313888.html>
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