Afghanistan earthquake Update: Death toll is 1000 now as 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits Paktika province

Afghanistan earthquake Update: 

Death toll is 1000 now as 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits Paktika province

Afghanistan :An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 killed at 1000 people in Afghanistan early on Wednesday, officials said, adding that 1500 people are likely to be injured according to state-run Bakhtar News Agency. The quake struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGC) said.

Most of the confirmed deaths were in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika, where 255 people had been killed and more than 200 injured, said interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi. In Khost province, 25 people had been killed and 90 taken to hospital, he said. The state-run Bakhtar news agency reported the death toll and said rescuers were arriving by helicopter. The news agency’s director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble.

The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake’s tremors were felt over 500 kilometres (310 miles) by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. (AP)