Asian cities jolted by 7.1 magnitude earthquake

A man helps an injured boy to a hospital after the earthquake hit in Peshawar, Pakistan

At least one person has been killed and several others injured after a powerful earthquake tore across south-west Asia. 

The 7.1 magnitude quake began in Afghanistan, close to the border of Tajikistan, and also  jolted parts of Punjab,  northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, sending people scurrying into streets.

"The 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck at around 3:30pm at a depth of 236 kilometres with its epicentre in Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region", Pakistan's Meteorological Department said.

A Kashmiri man captures pictures of a damaged house with his mobile phone 

 According to the government sources , "the tremors caused a  landslide on the Karakurm  mountain  range connecting Swat and Buner". "

"One man was killed and another injured when a landslide hit a car in the Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," a local official told the Telegraph. 

Buildings were seen swaying for more than a minute after the earthquake struck in Kabul and Islamabad. 

In India, the quake was so severe it prompted city officials in Delhi to shut down the metro system, while there were fears of post-quake landslides in the worst affected areas. 

People stay outdoors, fearful of returning to their homes in case of aftershocks 

A spokesman for the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said: "Over 100 seismic events have been recorded in the region over the past six months alone; some rocked the earth like a boat, while most of them passed unnoticed.

"The vast majority of these events originated in parts of the Hindu Kush range located in Afghanistan and Tajikistan and were felt as far afield as Islamabad and Lahore.

"The region is roughly located on top of the meeting point for the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates".

The PMD said it recorded about 851 seismic disturbances in 2015.

Met Office spokesman Ghulam Rasual  told the Telegraph: "With the collision of plates pushing land upwards, nearby regions including Islamabad may gradually end up gaining altitude. Or conversely, some areas can start sinking too. For example, La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, is sinking lower because mountains around it are rising"

In October last year, over 200 people were killed as a strong earthquake jolted Pakistan and Afghanistan.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/10/asian-cities-jolted-by-71-magnitude-earthquake/