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ISLAMABAD: A strong earthquake centered in Afghanistan&rsquo;s Hindu Kush region late Friday killed at least 12 people in Kabul while sending tremors across major cities in Pakistan, AFP reported. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said the quake struck at 9:13 PM local time with a magnitude of 6.3 and a depth of about 190 kilometeres. Tremors were widely felt in Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla, prompting residents to rush out of homes, offices and commercial buildings. &ldquo;There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in Pakistan,&rdquo; a PMD official said, adding that monitoring was ongoing. Authorities in Afghanistan confirmed fatalities in the capital. Hafizullah Basharat, a spokesman for the Kabul governor, said eight people were killed when a house collapsed on the outskirts of Kabul. &ldquo;All the victims belonged to the same family, and a child was also injured,&rdquo; Basharat said. According to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the US Geological Survey, the earthquake&rsquo;s epicenter was located in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometers east of Kunduz. The relatively deep focus allowed the tremors to be felt across a wide region, including northern Pakistan. Afghanistan&rsquo;s Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said emergency services in Kabul and provincial areas had been placed on alert following the quake. Despite the strong shaking, there were no immediate reports of damage from areas closer to the epicenter, which are remote and often slow to communicate with central authorities. Seismologists note that the Hindu Kush region is among the most seismically active zones in the world. In recent years, earthquakes have caused significant loss of life in Afghanistan, where vulnerable housing structures and limited disaster response capacity increase risks. In August last year, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 2,200 people in eastern Afghanistan, while another 6.3 quake in November left at least 27 dead and hundreds injured. A series of powerful earthquakes in October 2023 also killed thousands in the western parts of the country.

Climate & Environment

A strong earthquake strikes Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush, killing 12 in Kabul, while tremors are widely felt across northern Pakistan. Residents rush outdoors, but no damage or casualties are immediately reported in Pakistani cities, officials say.

Afghanistan quake kills 12, tremors strongly felt across Pakistan

MANADO: A major 7.4-magnitude quake struck off the coast of eastern Indonesia on Thursday, killing at least one person, causing waves of up to 75 centimetres (2.5 feet) and triggering a tsunami warning that was subsequently lifted. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the tremor hit at a shallow depth of 35 kilometres in the Molucca Sea between the Sulawesi and Maluku island groups in the early morning. One person was killed when a building collapsed in the city of Manado in North Sulawesi province, a local search and rescue official told AFP. &quot;The quake was felt strongly around Manado, one person died and one person had a leg injury,&quot; George Leo Mercy Randang told AFP by telephone. The victim was &quot;buried under the rubble&quot; of a collapsed building, he said. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) initially said hazardous tsunami waves were possible within 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) of the epicentre along the coasts of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Within half an hour of the quake, waves up to 75 centimetres were recorded in North Minahasa and 20 centimetres in Bitung, both in the north of Sulawesi island, according to Indonesia&#39;s BMKG geological agency. Thirty-centimetre waves were also logged in North Maluku province. The PTWC lifted its warning just over two hours after the tremor, saying the tsunami threat &quot;has now passed.&quot; Ternate resident Budi Nurgianto, 42, said he was inside his house when the tremor struck, sending people panicking outside. &quot;The quake was felt strongly. I heard it first from the walls of the house that shook,&quot; he said. &quot;When I went outside, there were many people outside. They were panicked. The quake was felt (for) quite long, more than a minute. &quot;I even saw some people leaving their house without having finished their shower.&quot; Aftershocks&nbsp; BMKG head Teuku Faisal Fathani told journalists in the capital Jakarta there were 11 aftershocks, the biggest with a magnitude of 5.5. An AFP journalist in Manado on Sulawesi, about 300 kilometres west of Ternate by sea, said the shaking woke him and others in the city of around 450,000 people. &quot;I immediately woke up and left my house. People (were) immediately scrambling outside. There is a school and the pupils rushed outside,&quot; he said. The shaking persisted for &quot;quite long&quot; but he did not witness &quot;significant damage&quot;, he added. The PTWC had initially warned that tsunami waves of up to one metre were possible for parts of Indonesia, with smaller waves possible for the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Guam and Palau. &quot;Government agencies responsible for threatened coastal areas should take action to inform and instruct any coastal populations at risk,&quot; the agency said. The Japan Meteorological Agency said it expected &quot;slight changes&quot; in the sea level along the Pacific coast from northern Hokkaido to southern Okinawa, but has not issued any warnings. The earthquake centres of the Philippines and Malaysia have also not issued tsunami alerts. Indonesia and neighbouring countries experience frequent earthquakes due to their location in the Pacific &quot;Ring of Fire&quot; -- an arc of intense seismic activity where tectonic plates collide that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. In 2004, a magnitude-9.1 quake struck Aceh province, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.&nbsp;

Police officers look at a building of the North Sumatra's National Sports Committee of Indonesia (KONI) damaged following a severe 7.4-magnitude offshore quake in Manado, North Sulawesi on April 2, 2026. (Photo by Tonny Rarung / AFP

Asia

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake off eastern Indonesia killed one person, triggered small tsunami waves and a brief warning that was later lifted. 

7.4-magnitude quake off Indonesia kills one, tsunami warning lifted

TOKYO:&nbsp;At least 10 people were reported injured on Tuesday, but there appeared to be no major damage after a big quake rocked northern Japan and triggered tsunami waves up to 70 centimeters (28 inches) high. But the Japan Meteorological Agency also said the magnitude 7.6 quake, which struck at 11:15 pm on Monday (1415 GMT) off the coast of the Aamori region, raised the chances of similar or larger tremors in the coming days. The injured included one person seriously hurt in the main northern island of Hokkaido, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. In Hokkaido, an AFP reporter said the ground shook violently for around 30 seconds as smartphone alarms rang to alert residents. Live footage showed shattered glass fragments scattered across roads. Some 2,700 homes in Aomori were without power, Kyodo News reported in the hours after the quake, and there were numerous reports of fires. Initially, the JMA warned that tsunamis up to three meters (10 feet) could hit, which could have caused major damage, and thousands of residents were urged to go to safe places. In the end, the biggest waves recorded measured up to 70 centimetres, and after several hours, the warnings were lifted. Public broadcaster NHK cited a hotel employee in the city of Hachinohe in Aomori as saying there had been some injuries as a result of the quake. Shinkansen bullet-train service was suspended in some areas while engineers checked for any damage to the tracks. Shortly after Monday&#39;s earthquake, Tohoku Electric Power said no abnormalities were detected at its Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori and its Onagawa facility plant in the Miyagi region. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, early on Tuesday, urged residents to be careful. &quot;Please listen to information from the JMA or local governments for about a week and check if furniture is fixed .... and be prepared to evacuate when you feel shaking,&quot; she said. &#39;Megaquake&#39;&nbsp;In 2011, a magnitude-9.0 quake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific &quot;Ring of Fire&quot; and is one of the world&#39;s most tectonically active countries. The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, experiences around 1,500 jolts every year. The vast majority are mild, although the damage they cause varies according to their location and depth below the Earth&#39;s surface. Quakes are extremely hard to predict, but in January, a government panel marginally increased the probability of a major jolt in the Nankai Trough off Japan in the next 30 years to 75-82%. The government then released a new estimate in March saying that such a &quot;megaquake&quot; and subsequent tsunami could cause as many as 298,000 deaths and damage of up to $2 trillion.

Japanese Prime Minister says a powerful 7.6 quake strikes northern Japan, prompting tsunami alerts, injuries, power outages, evacuations, and safety checks before warnings are lifted.

10 reported hurt after big Japan quake, warning of more tremors

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">MAZAR-i-SHARIF:&nbsp;A strong earthquake killed at least 20 people in northern Afghanistan, authorities said Monday, just months after another deadly tremor that left the country reeling. The 6.3-magnitude quake struck overnight at a depth of 28 kilometers (17 miles) with the epicentre near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the US Geological Survey.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-5" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 248px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-5&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1985085925416661097&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fsections%2F&sessionId=4ce46ae6fd8f4ced8a0fb11acb2b65c6496c0477&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="1985085925416661097"></iframe></div></div>More than 20 people were killed and around 320 were injured in the provinces of Balkh and Samangan, health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman told journalists on Monday morning, stressing that this was a preliminary toll. He did not provide a province-wide breakdown of the casualties. Residents of Mazar-i-Sharif, one of Afghanistan&#39;s largest northern cities, scrambled into the streets due to fears their homes would collapse, an AFP correspondent observed. Blue Mosque damaged The city&#39;s famed Blue Mosque, a 15th-century landmark known for its vibrant tiles, was also damaged, an AFP journalist witnessed. Pieces of the structure, particularly from one of its minarets, broke off and lay scattered across the mosque&#39;s grounds, one of the country&#39;s few remaining tourist spots. Correspondents in the capital Kabul, around 420 kilometres to the south, also said they felt shaking. Poor communication networks and infrastructure in mountainous Afghanistan have hampered disaster responses in the past, preventing authorities for hours or even days from reaching far-flung villages to assess the extent of the damage. Major earthquakes It is the latest natural disaster for the Taliban government, which has faced three major deadly earthquakes since taking over Afghanistan in 2021, even as the foreign aid that formed the backbone of the country&#39;s economy has dramatically dropped. In August, a shallow 6.0-magnitude quake in the country&#39;s east wiped out mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people. Large tremors in western Herat, near the Iranian border, in 2023, and in eastern Nangarhar province in 2022 killed hundreds and destroyed thousands of homes. Rising hunger The United Nations and aid agencies have warned that hunger is rising among the Afghan population. Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet. Many homes in the predominantly rural country -- devastated by decades of war -- are shoddily built. It often takes hours or days to travel by steep roads and paths to remote villages, which are often cut off from help during disasters or poor weather.

Afghanistan

The city's famed Blue Mosque, a 15th-century landmark known for its vibrant tiles, was also damaged; pieces of the structure, particularly from one of its minarets, broke off and lay scattered across the mosque's grounds, one of the country's few remaining tourist spots.

Afghanistan quake kills at least 20 people, injures over 300: health ministry

Reuters

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">MANILA:&nbsp;The death toll from a 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the central Philippines has risen to 69, a disaster official said on Wednesday as the government mobilized agencies to search for survivors and restore power and water supplies. In Bogo city in the north of Cebu province, which was near the epicentre of the shallow quake that struck off the coast just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, the hospital has been &quot;overwhelmed,&quot; Civil Defense official Raffy Alejandro told reporters. The death toll of 69 was based on data from the Cebu provincial disaster office and was subject to validation, said Jane Abapo, an information officer at the regional Civil Defense office. Another official said more than 150 people were injured. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assured survivors of swift assistance, saying cabinet secretaries were on the ground directing relief operations, as he expressed his condolences to those who lost loved ones. Cebu, one of the Philippines&#39; most popular tourist destinations, is home to 3.4 million people. Despite the damage, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, the country&#39;s second busiest gateway, remained operational. Another hard-hit town, San Remigio was placed under a state of calamity to help the response and relief efforts. Vice Mayor Alfie Reynes appealed for food and water for evacuees, as well as heavy equipment to aid search and rescue workers. &quot;It is raining heavily and there is no electricity, so we really need help, especially in the northern part because there&#39;s a scarcity of water after supply lines were damaged by the earthquake,&quot; Reynes told DZMM radio. In the nearby town of Pilar, resident Archel Coraza said most of his family were asleep when their house began to shake violently. &quot;I woke them up and we all rushed outside into the street,&quot; he told DZMM. Coraza, who lives close to the shoreline, said he saw seawater recede after the tremor. Local media posted videos of people rushing out of their homes as the ground shook and buildings collapsed, including a church that was more than 100 years old. Reynes said among the deceased were some people who had been playing basketball in a sports complex in San Remigio when it partially collapsed due to the quake. Earthquake monitoring agencies estimated the quake&#39;s depth at around 10 km (6.2 miles) and recorded multiple aftershocks, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 6. There was no tsunami threat following the quake. The Philippines lies in the Pacific &quot;Ring of Fire,&quot; an area characterized by frequent volcanic activity and earthquakes. The country experienced two major earthquakes in January, with no reported casualties. In 2023, a 6.7 magnitude offshore earthquake killed eight people.

Earthquake monitoring agencies put quake's depth at around 10 km; record multiple aftershocks, the strongest having a magnitude of 6.9

Articles tagged with "Earthquake"

Afghanistan quake kills 12, tremors strongly felt across Pakistan

7.4-magnitude quake off Indonesia kills one, tsunami warning lifted

10 reported hurt after big Japan quake, warning of more tremors

Afghanistan quake kills at least 20 people, injures over 300: health ministry

Philippines quake death toll rises to 69, official says