Death toll from Afghanistan quake tops 1,000

More than 1,000 people have been killed and upwards of 1,500 injured in southeastern Afghanistan, the Culture and Information Department has confirmed.

Neighbouring Pakistan’s Meteorological Department said the quake’s epicentre was in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, some 50km (31 miles) southwest of the city of Khost. Buildings were also damaged in Khost province, and tremors were felt some 375km (230 miles) away in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

The Taliban appealed for international help for the rescue effort as pictures showed landslides and ruined mud-built homes in the province of Paktika.

The quake struck shortly after 01:30 (21:00 GMT Tuesday) as people slept.

Hundreds of houses were destroyed by the magnitude 6.1 event, which occurred at a depth of 51km (32 miles).

It is the deadliest earthquake to strike Afghanistan in two decades and a major challenge for the Taliban, the Islamist movement which regained power last year after the Western-backed government collapsed.

The earthquake struck about 44km from the city of Khost and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India. Witnesses reported feeling the quake in both Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, and Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

Source: Al Jazeera, BBC