At least twelve people died and more than two hundred were injured on Tuesday night in Afghanistan and Pakistan, after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake, whose epicenter has been located in the Hindu Kush border range. Thousands of people took to the streets as a result of the tremor within a radius of hundreds of kilometers, from the Indian capital, New Delhi, to the Afghan capital, Kabul, passing through Islamabad or Lahore, in Pakistan.
In the latter country, the authorities of the northwestern province of Jaiber Pakhtunjuá have confirmed nine dead - including two women and two children - and 160 injured, in the collapse of about twenty houses. On the Afghan side, the traditional and low-rise architecture, in an area with little population density, has prevented greater evils, despite the magnitude of the earthquake. Even so, it would be necessary to regret at least three dead and 44 injured in the province of Badajshan, all due to the collapse of the roof of their homes.
In the big cities, although cracks have appeared in some buildings, things have been a scare. Thousands of people fled their homes or offices even in far away New Delhi. In Lahore or Amritsar, people left half their dinner in restaurants to throw themselves into the streets.
In Kabul itself, where some discreetly celebrated Nowruz - the Persian New Year that coincides with the spring equinox - many did not want to return to their homes and spent the night outdoors, despite the low temperatures.
The tremor was registered at 22:17 local time yesterday, with an epicenter at a depth of 180 kilometers and about 40 kilometers from the town of Jurm, in the northeastern province of Badakhshan and close to Tajikistan. A little further south, but also in eastern Afghanistan -in Paktika and Jost- there was another earthquake last year which, despite its minor magnitude, left more than a thousand victims and put relief capacity to the test for the first time. of the self-styled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The Taliban, by the way, have eliminated the pre-Islamic festival of Nowruz, so the festivities, for the second year, take place discreetly or in private.
