The Afghan-Pakistani border region has been shaken by a violent earthquake. NAccording to official figures, at least 280 people lost their lives. Another 250 residents in eastern Afghanistan were injured after the earthquake late Tuesday evening, the state news agency Bakhtar reported on Wednesday.
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A spokesman for the ruling Taliban also spoke of dozens of destroyed houses in four affected districts of the province bordering Pakistan. Local media reported that one village was completely destroyed.
The information from regional seismic stations on the strength initially fluctuated. Pakistani authorities gave the earthquake late Tuesday evening (local time) with a magnitude of 6.1. The US earthquake monitor (USGS) reported magnitude 5.9 and a slightly weaker aftershock. Accordingly, the center of the earthquake was around 50 kilometers southwest of the city of Khost near the border with Pakistan at a depth of around ten kilometers.
According to Pakistani information, the tremors were felt in large parts of the country, in the capital Islamabad and even in Lahore in the east of the country. According to the civil protection authority, local emergency services tried to gain access to the affected remote mountainous region. The Pakistani side initially gave no information on damage and casualties. (dpa)
