Tremors felt in India after 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits Afghanistan

More than a dozen people have been killed after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Pakistan, Afghanistan and northern India, local media reported, citing local officials. Massive tremors have been reported in New Delhi, Islamabad and several other major cities.According to USGS, the quake was about 196km deep and centered nearly 82km southeast of the city of Feyzabad, 48 km south-west of the town of  Jarm, Afghanistan.The quake, which lasted at least one minute, was 196 kilometres deep and centred 82km south-east of Feyzabad in a remote area of Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush mountain range.The USGS initially measured the quake's intensity at magnitude 7.7 then revised it down to 7.6 and later to 7.5. It shook buildings in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi and sent people rushing into the streets.Rubeena Mahato, an exchange student in Nepal, tweeted that the earthquake was felt in the capital Kathmandu, and "strong enough to send us out of the building".Shake map of Afghanistan earthquake Photo: Shake map showing impact of earthquake in different areas in Afghanistan. (USGS)In neighbouring India, hundreds of people raced from buildings onto the streets in New Delhi while the quake was also felt in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, according to an AFP reporter.Government officials in north-western Pakistan said at least 12 people had been killed, while more than 100 people were injured in the northern city of Peshawar."Many more injured are still coming to hospital. Many are still under rubble,"



said Dr Muhammad Sadiq, the head of emergency services at a government hospital.Injured people were pouring into Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, an official said.
"We received 50 injured and more are being shifted. The injured suffered multiple injuries due to building collapse," hospital spokesman Syed Jamil Shah said.International aid agencies working in the northern areas of Afghanistan reported that cell phone coverage in the affected areas remained down in the hour after the initial quake.India's northernmost region of Kashmir experienced intense and prolonged tremors that caused panic in areas that suffered severe flooding last year.Power supplies and most mobile networks were knocked out, and there was structural damage to roads and buildings.The full extent of the damage is not yet known.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said Delhi was ready to provide assistance to Kabul and Islamabad."I have asked for an urgent assessment, and we stand ready for assistance where required, including Afghanistan and Pakistan," Mr Modi said on Twitter.The earthquake struck almost exactly six months after Nepal suffered its worst quake on record, on April 24. Including the toll from a major aftershock in May, 9,000 people lost their lives and damaging or destroying 900,000 homes.The mountainous region is a seismically active region, with earthquakes the result of the Indian subcontinent driving into and under the Eurasian landmass. Such tectonic shifts can cause enormous and destructive releases of energy.