A deadly earthquake hit southwestern Sichuan province of China killing at least 65 people, while an earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan killed at least eight people early Monday.
China earthquake
The aftershocks continued to follow on Tuesday as the rescue efforts proceeded in China after the earthquake of 6.6-magnitude quake shook the region around 1 p.m. Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Reportedly, 248 injuries have been confirmed while at least 12 people remain missing, according to the state media. Rescuers searched through the rubble for the missing people in faraway villages after the earthquake shook buildings and triggered landslides as far away from the epicenter as the provincial capital Chengdu, 200 km (124 miles).
As per the reports, the earthquake’s epicenter was in the mountainous Ludingcounty of the Sichuan province, almost 43 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of Kangding, a city comprising nearly 100,000 people.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 hit near the eastern city of Jalalabad in the early hours, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The tremors were felt in the provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, Laghman, and the capital, Kabul.
“We are collecting information from other areas regarding casualties and damages,” deputy minister for disaster management Sharafuddin Muslim said.
“Sunday night’s earthquake has caused financial and human losses in Kunar province,” said the spokesman for the provincial governor, Mawlavi Najibullah Hanif, while talking to the media, adding that deaths could rise.
Initial reports put the causalities from the quake at six, with nine injured, said disaster ministry spokesperson Mohammad NassimHaqqani.
Afghanistan is frequently struck by earthquakes – mainly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the intersection of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
The country was already recovering from the earthquake of June 22 which was the country’s deadliest quake in over two decades with a magnitude of 5.9 and killed more than 1,000 people, wounding thousands.