Deadly earthquake rocks Afghanistan and Pakistan

More than 150 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake which has hit north-eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tremors from the magnitude-7.5 quake were also felt in northern India and Tajikistan.  At least 12 of the victims were Afghan schoolgirls killed in a crush as they tried to get out of their building.

The earthquake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 76km (45 miles) south of Faizabad, the US Geological Survey reported.  

Buildings have been evacuated and communications disrupted in many areas.

Sunnatullah Timour, a spokesman for the governor of the Afghan province of Takhar, told the BBC that as well as the fatalities at the girls' school, another 25 students were injured in the stampede.

Deaths and injuries have also been reported in the Afghan provinces of Nangarhar, Badakhshan and Kunar, with at least 35 killed in total.

In Pakistan, the military has said 123 people have been confirmed dead in the north of the 
country.Most of those fatalities were in the Malakand region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 

The USGS estimated that the quake happened at a depth of 212km. The magnitude was initially put at 7.7 but later downgraded.

An aftershock measured at 4.8 magnitude struck shortly afterwards.  - Read More at BBC

Deadly earthquake rocks Afghanistan and Pakistan