Afghanistan: Earthquake kills and injures thousands

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Afghanistan has killed at least 1,000 people and injured 1,500. The quake struck 44 km from the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan at a depth of 51 km. Paktika province was reported to have suffered the most casualties, with at least 255 killed. This is the deadliest earthquake in Afghanistan in 19 years.
 
According to the BBC, the earthquake occurred on Wednesday morning at 01:30 local time.
 
An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale shook densely populated areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday, the Afghan Seismological Center reported, citing the US Seismological Center. 
 
The head of information and culture of Paktika province told Bakhtar News Agency on Wednesday afternoon that more than a thousand people were killed and more than 1,500 were injured in the cities (districts) of Gyan and Barmal alone.
 
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) tweeted that the quake-affected 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.
 
The epicenter was reported 44 kilometers south of the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan at a depth of 51 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey.
 
Pictures published in the Afghan media show the destruction of houses in the quake-hit areas and corpses covered in blankets.
 
Taliban leader Maulvi Hebatullah Akhundzadeh called on international organizations to help the relatives of the victims of the natural disaster.

_{Source: BBC, Reuters}