A horrific earthquake in Afghanistan has led to the deaths of 280 people with many more wounded.
The magnitude 6.1 quake struck around 44km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, at a depth of 51km early on Wednesday (June 22), according to the US Geological Survey. A resident near the Afghan capital, Kabul, posted on the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) website, describing how he experienced "strong and long jolts".
"It was strong," said a resident of the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Around 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India have reportedly felt the shaking, the Mirror reports.
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A death toll of at least 255 people were reported by the state-run Bakhtar news agency on Wednesday morning while also reporting that rescuers were rushing to the scene by helicopter. It is believed dozens of people have been trapped under the rubble caused by the quake.
The head of the Taliban administration's natural disaster ministry, Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, said the majority of deaths happened in the province of Paktika in the eastern part of the country. He added that investigations are currently underway to determine if anymore casualties have happened.
Pakistan has not yet reported any immediate damage or casualties. It comes after Afghanistan has been experiencing severe economic pressures following the Taliban takeover in August.
In response to the Taliban's seizure of the country following two decades of war, many governments imposed sanction on the nation's banking sector while cutting billions of dollars worth of development aid.
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