More than 260 Pakistani citizens have already died, after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake has hit north-eastern Afghanistan. Vibrations from the said quake were also felt in northern parts of India and Tajikistan.
According to reports, at least 12 of the victims were Afghan schoolgirls who were died in a crush as they attempted to get out of their building. The US Geological Survey reported that the earthquake's epicenter was in the mountainous region of Hindu Kush, 76km (45 miles) south of Faizabad.
The number of fatality is set to increase as the most seriously affected parts are very remote and means of communications have been cut off. The death toll in Pakistan has also risen to at least 214, especially in the northern mountainous regions. Authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said that at least 179 people were already known to have died, and some casualties of more than 1,800.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has shortened his visit abroad and decided to return home instead. A spokesman for the governor of the Afghan province of Takhar, Sunnatullah Timour told BBC that while there is an increasing death tolls at the girls' school, another 25 casualties were recorded due to the stampede.
Fatalities and casualties have also been reported in the Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Badakhshan and Kunar, with at least 52 killed in total. Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's Chief Executive, tweeted that the government had asked assistance group to work with it to assist those in need.
Imran Khan, head of the Pakistan Geological Survey told BBC that there were also news of landslides disorganizing the Karakoram highway between Gilgit and Baltistan. However, he said it was too early to predict if any glaciers were weakened by the quake.
