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Powerful quake rocks South Asia, 70 dead
By Usman SHARIFI
Kabul (AFP) Oct 26, 2015


Major earthquakes of the past 30 years
A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region Monday, with strong tremors felt in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities, but quakes of this size in the region have caused massive destruction in the past.

Below is a list of some of the world's strongest earthquakes in the past 30 years.

+ April 25, 2015: A 7.8 magnitude quake in Nepal kills almost 8,900 people and destroys about half a million homes. A massive aftershock with a magnitude of 7.3 follows in May, killing dozens more.

+ August 11, 2012: Twin earthquakes with a magnitude 6.3 and 6.4 leave 306 dead and more than 3,000 injured near the Iranian city of Tabriz.

+ March 11, 2011: Nearly 18,900 are killed when a tsunami triggered by a massive magnitude 9.0 undersea quake slams into the northeast coast of Japan, triggering a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant.

+ October 23, 2011: An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude rocks eastern Turkey, leaving more than 600 dead and at least 4,150 injured.

+ January 12, 2010: Magnitude 7.0 quake hits Haiti, leaving between 250,000 and 300,000 dead.

+ April 14, 2010: A 6.9-magnitude quake hits Yushu county in northwest China's Qinghai province leaving 3,000 people dead and missing.

+ May 12, 2008: A quake measuring 8.0 hits China's southwest province of Sichuan, leaving more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

+ May 27, 2006: A powerful quake in Indonesia's Yogyakarta region kills 6,000 and leaves 1.5 million homeless.

+ October 8, 2005: An earthquake of 7.6 kills more than 75,000 people, the vast majority of them in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province and the Pakistani-administered zone of Kashmir state. Some 3.5 million are displaced.

+ March 28, 2005: An earthquake on Indonesia's Nias island off Sumatra leaves 900 dead.

+ December 26, 2004: A massive undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra island triggers a tsunami which kills 220,000 in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

+ December 26, 2003: A quake measuring 6.7 hits the Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 31,884 people and injuring 18,000.

+ January 26, 2001: A massive 7.7 earthquake hits the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing 25,000 people and injuring 166,000.

+ September 30, 1993: A 6.3-magnitude quake hits the western Indian state of Maharashtra, killing 7,601.

+ October 20, 1991: A quake measuring 6.6 hits the Himalayan foothills of Uttar Pradesh state in India, killing 768.

+ August 20, 1988: A magnitude 6.8 quake hits eastern Nepal, killing 721 people in Nepal and at least 277 in the neighbouring Indian state of Bihar.

A powerful 7.5 magnitude killed at least 70 people as it rocked south Asia on Monday, including 12 Afghan girls who were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their collapsing school.

Thousands of frightened people rushed into the streets across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as the quake was felt across a swathe of the subcontinent.

The quake was centred near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 kilometres (160 miles) from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

The epicentre is just a few hundred kilometres from the site of a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck in October 2005, killing more than 75,000 people and displacing some 3.5 million more, although that quake was much shallower.

The death toll rose rapidly amid reports of buildings reduced to rubble, with Pakistan heavily hit.

Horrifying news emerged of at least 12 schoolgirls being trampled to death in the northern Afghan province.

"The students rushed to escape the school building in Taluqan city (capital of Takhar), triggering a stampede," Takhar education department chief Enayat Naweed told AFP.

"Twelve students, all minors, were killed and 35 others were injured."

Separately, in Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan, Six people were killed and 69 others were injured, Najeeb Kamawal, head of the local public hospital told AFP.

At least 28 people were known to have died in Pakistan's northern tribal areas, 20 in the northwest, three in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Pakistani Kashmir, various officials told AFP.

Eight children were known to be among the dead in Pakistan.

Monday's quake, which lasted at least one minute, shook buildings in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi.

At least one aftershock hit shortly afterwards, with the USGS putting its magnitude at 4.8.

In a statistical prediction on its website, the agency said there was a one-third chance of the number of fatalities climbing to between 100 and 1,000 people, with several million dollars' worth of damage likely caused.

Arbab Muhammad Asim, district mayor for Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, said more than 100 people had been injured there alone.

"Many houses and buildings have collapsed in the city," he said.

Dr Muhammad Sadiq, the head of emergency services at a government hospital in Peshawar, confirmed the number of injuries.

"Many more injured are still coming to hospital. Many are still under rubble," Sadiq told AFP.

- Panicked residents -

Afghanistan's CEO Abdullah Abdullah said reports of damage and injuries were coming in from the nation's northeast.

"Disaster authorities to meet within the hour and respond to the needs," he tweeted.

Traffic came to a stop in downtown Kabul, with frightened people getting out of their cars as they waited for the quake to pass.

As buildings shook throughout north India, hundreds of people poured onto the streets from office blocks, hospitals and and homes, AFP reporters and TV footage showed.

Delhi's metro ground to a halt during the tremor although the airport continued operating.

"All of around 190 trains plying on the tracks were stopped at the time of the earthquake. The lines and the trains are now being restored after basic inspection of respective lines," Anuj Dayal, Delhi Metro spokesman told AFP.

Cell phone networks were down in the Kashmir region where panicked residents also evacuated buildings and school children were seen huddling together outside their school in the main city of Srinagar.

"Some bridges and buildings got damaged. There are no reports of loss of life so far. Cell phone networks are down, we are using our wireless network to gather information," police inspector general in Kashmir, Javid Gillani, told AFP.

Many buildings were badly damaged during massive floods in Kashmir a year ago, heightening the danger of collapse during the quake.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter immediately after the quake.

"Heard about strong earthquake in Afghanistan-Pakistan region whose tremors have been felt in parts of India. I pray for everyone's safety," he wrote.

"I have asked for an urgent assessment and we stand ready for assistance where required, including Afghanistan & Pakistan."

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

South Asia's quakes occur along a major fault line between two tectonic plates -- one which bears India pushing north and east at a rate of about two centimetres (0.8 inches) per year against the other, which carries Europe and Asia.

In Nepal, twin quakes in May killed more than 8,900 people, triggered landslides and destroyed half a million homes, leaving thousands in need of food, clean water and shelter.

burs-hg/ml


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