Strong earthquake strikes near Afghanistan-Pakistan border

A magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck southern Asia on Monday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter was 45 kilometers (28 miles) south-southwest of Jarm, Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The agency initially reported it as magnitude 7.7.

CNN teams in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan all felt strong tremors.

A USGS map showed that shaking traveled into Tajikistan as well.

The quake’s epicenter was at a depth of 213.5 kilometers (132.7 miles).

There were no immediate reports of casualties and damage.

Islamabad shakes

Hundreds of miles away in Islamabad, Pakistan, CNN correspondent Sophia Saifi was standing in the kitchen when her microwave fell. She ran out of her building as it began to shake.

Minutes later, as she stood outside, the ground was still trembling.

“We can feel tremors at sporadic intervals,” she said. But people were calm, trying to make cell phone calls, while children played in the streets around them. There was no damage Saifi could see.

In Quetta, near the border with Afghanistan, there were no reports of casualties, Saifi said, but there were “structural damages.”

Pakistan’s military has been activated without waiting for formal orders, a military spokesman said in a tweet.

Quake felt in Kyrgyzstan

The earthquake was felt all the way up in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyz political activist Edil Baisalov told CNN that the shaking was “not unusual for us but quite long tremors. As far as I know no damage in Kyrgyzstan.”

Exit mobile version