Deadly Afghanistan Earthquake Rocks South Asia
(ABC News) — A deadly 7.5-magnitude earthquake rocked northern Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India this morning, so far killing dozens.
At least 105 people from across South Asia have died from the quake, according to The Associated Press.
The victims include at least 12 students at a girl’s school in Afghanistan’s Takhar province, and five people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have reportedly died in collapsed houses, according to a rescue official. One other person died because of a fallen roof, according to state-run Pakistani TV.
U.S. Geological Survey listed the earthquake in Afghanistan at an “orange alert level.”
“Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread,” the agency said. “Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response.”
The quake was roughly 133 miles deep, USGS geo-physiologist Zachary Reeves told ABC News.
“Being deeper helps negate the impact at the surface, because it has to travel further to get to the surface,” Reeves said.
An #earthquake rattles Ducts in our Noida office. Tremors lasted over 2 minutes. pic.twitter.com/wW2UO6XPO5
— Gamandeep Singh (@gaman007) October 26, 2015
About 931,807 people live within 62 miles of the quake, according to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System. A building has reportedly fallen down in Peshawar, and most of the damage is likely in northern Pakistan. There are also reports of land sliding there and the wall of a school has collapsed, injuring children in a city near Lahore. A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 killed 86,000 and displaced over 2 million.
Terrible pictures coming in from #Kashmir valley.
#earthquake pic.twitter.com/UL04Io8NV3
— ابن عثمان (@CounterTweet_) October 26, 2015
ABC News‘ Habibullah Khan, Rachel Katz and Mustafa Hameed, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
