Geneva, 27 October 2015
- Brief description of the emergency and impact
Six months after the devastating earthquake in Nepal, a powerful earthquake once again hits the region.
The earthquake occurred on 26 October 2015 at 2:09 pm Pakistan time. The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported the magnitude of the earthquake as 8.1 (US Geological Survey reports it at 7.5).
The quake was 196 km (120 miles) deep and centred at 82 km (51 miles) south-east of Feyzabad in a remote area of Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush mountain range.
Pakistan: Severe tremors were felt across the country from north to south, in Karachi, Islamabad,
Lahore, Sialkot, Quetta, Peshawar, Swabi, Kohat, Abbottabad, Swat, Malakand and Gilgit etc. According to a US Geological Survey, the powerful quake was also felt in India and UAE.
At least 94 people have been killed and over 300 people reported to be injured so far across the country.
However the damage and loss is expected to increase as communication networks, including roads and mobile phone services in some of the northern parts of the country including KP province are still disrupted. Hundreds of buildings are reported to have collapsed in Peshawar, Swat, Lower Dir,
Charsadda, Shangla, Nowshehra, Batagram, Bajuar, Abbottabad and Mansehra of KP province. Damage and loss are also reported in Bajur agency, Gilgit, Hunza in the northern areas as well as in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Multan, Kasur, Jehlum Gujranwala districts of Punjab province.
Afghanistan: The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) reported that the earthquake has claimed the lives of 15 people while 79 people were injured. In Takhar province, 11 children died in a school when a stampede occurred while children were rushing to leave the building when the earthquake struck. Initial reports from ANDMA and other sources show that the provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, and Nangarhar are the most affected provinces.
The Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) reported that due to landslides, the roads between Kunduz and Takhar provinces are closed. Furthermore, roads connecting Nangarhar province with Kabu as well as between Baharak district, Badakhshan province and Fayzabad city are closed. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education (MoE) is coordinating with all relevant education departments in provinces to collect information about human loss and earthquake damage to school buildings. Communication networks in Afghanistan are down and data related to damage and loss is still in process of compilation.