Tuesday night’s earthquake killed 12 persons in areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan as the epicenter of the powerful quake was in the Hindkush region.
As per reports, nine were killed in Pakistan and three in Afghanistan.
The Disaster Management Authority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that five men, two women, and two children were killed and more than 21 women, 19 men, and seven children were injured.
Landslides have also blocked roads in the city of Abbottabad and Karakoram Highway (erstwhile Kashmir) in the Harban area of Kohistan.
The quake also struck major ‘Pakistani’ cities, including ‘Rawalpindi’, Islamabad, Lahore, Mansehra, ‘Abbottabad,’ Muzaffarabad’, Peshawar, Haripur, Mardan, ‘Chitral’, Charsadda due to which cracks developed in the Al-Janaat Mall in Rawalpindi and buildings in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, two people died in the Takhar province and a third fatality was reported in Laghman.
Spokesman for the Public Health Ministry Sharafat Zaman Amar on Wednesday said that at least 44 people were also injured, adding that the number of casualties might increase as search and rescue operations are currently underway.
Interior Minister Sarajudin Haqqani instructed concerned bodies to provide humanitarian aid to the affected families.
Tremors were also felt in northern parts of India.
The United States Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.5 quake was centered near Jurm in northeastern Afghanistan, but the depth of 187 kilometers (116 miles) mitigated extensive damage.