Things are “shifting” in the Hindu Kush - literally. Just months after back-to-back quakes hit Nepal killing thousands, a powerful earthquake shook northeast Afghanistan on Monday. Tremors were felt in Pakistan and India as well.
The quake, which the USGS says measured 7.5, “centered 82 km (51 miles) southeast of Feyzabad in a remote area of Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush mountain range,” Reuters reports [8]. At least 12 are reported dead [9] in Pakistan thus far.
Here’s more from Bloomberg [10]:
USGS sited the earthquake as being 42 miles west-northwest of Chitral, Pakistan. Chitral is located around 100 miles north of the city of Peshawar.
Pakistan's GEO TV reported people leaving their homes in Peshawar, Abbottabad and the capital Islamabad, with no reports of casualties so far.
Pakistan's AAJ TV said at least one building collapsed in Peshawar.
Residents of Delhi said tremors were felt in the Indian capital at 2:44 p.m. local time. The India Meteorological Department said the earthquake was at a depth of 118 miles (190km).
And here are a few first-hand accounts gathered by NBC [11]:
"I just felt it go up and down as if I was on a New York subway on a really rough ride. Everything was moving up and down. My lunch on the table was literally just popping up and down."
"There was no was way to go downstairs so we immediately climbed to the rooftop. It seemed the entire building is going to collapse. Women and children were crying and traffic was stopped on roads."
More color from CBS [12]:
"There are reports of casualties and destruction" in some remote districts of Badakhshan, said the provincial director of the national disaster management authority, Abdullah Humayoon Dehqan.
Power was cut across much of the Afghan capital, where tremors were felt for around 45 seconds. Houses shook, walls cracked and cars rolled in the street. Officials in the capital could not be immediately reached as telephones appeared to be cut across the country.
In Pakistan, Zahid Rafiq, an official with the meteorological department, said the quake was felt across the country. In Islamabad, buildings shook and people poured into the streets in a panic, with many reciting verses from the Quran.
"I was praying when the massive earthquake rattled my home. I came out in a panic," said Munir Anwar, a resident of Liaquat Pur in the eastern Punjab province.
From India
Image from Indian Occ Punjab at Ludhiyana where a car comes out of a showroom after collapse #Earthquake [13] pic.twitter.com/XyVi6ADVRG [14]
— Farhan Khan Virk (@FarhanKVirk) October 26, 2015 [15]
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: People in Noida rush out of offices as #earthquake [16] tremors rocked the capital pic.twitter.com/tn6py68MMM [17]
— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) October 26, 2015 [18]
From Pakistan
An image from Islamabad where cracks appeared in a complete building #Earthquake [13] pic.twitter.com/7ZcjOxUcyU [19]
— Farhan Khan Virk (@FarhanKVirk) October 26, 2015 [20]
JUST IN: Image from #Hunza [21] where an entire glacier has come falling down. (via @FarhanKVirk [22]) #earthquake [16] pic.twitter.com/pgK3x9oDtu [23]
— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) October 26, 2015 [24]