A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region on October 26 and was felt throughout much of South Asia, killing at least 50 and injuring dozens in neighboring Pakistan.
The earthquake lasted at least one minute and shook buildings in Kabul, Islamabad, and Delhi and sent people rushing into the streets.
An RFE/RL correspondent in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan Province witnessed several buildings collapse in the regional capital, Puli Khumri. The earthquake disrupted electricity supplies in the region's districts and affected telephone connection.
Officials say that at least 17 people were killed in Afghanistan,including 12 girls who died in a stampede at a school in the city of Taloqan.
RFE/RL correspondents in Pakistan report that the earthquake mainly affected the Swat Valley in the country’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where buildings collapsed in the city of Peshawar and nearby districts, killing at least 13 individuals. At least 70 people were rushed to local hospitals.
With reporting by AFP
msh/rc
