Early reports
from Afghanistan and Pakistan say at least 180 people have died. At least 146
deaths have been reported in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas that border Afghanistan, according to
district coordination officials. Afghan officials report at least 34 deaths in
that country's northeastern provinces. Twelve schoolgirls were killed in a
stampede in northern Afghanistan as they tried to exit their school, police
said.
The girls,
between 10 and 15 years old, were crushed in their Taluqan city school's
stairwell, between the first and second floors, said Abdul Khalil Asir, a
spokesman for Takhar province police.
The USGS issued an orange alert on the quake. "Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response," the USGS said.
The epicenter was 45
kilometers (28 miles) south-southwest of Jarm, Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan
border.
CNN teams in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan all felt strong tremors. A
USGS map showed that shaking traveled into Tajikistan as well.
The quake's epicenter
was at a depth of 213.5 kilometers (132.7 miles). The USGS initially reported
it as magnitude 7.7 and then revised it to 7.5.
Kabul: 'It was really bad'
Everyone ran
out into the streets. The walls of his compound shook so hard, they looked like
they might fall over.
"In the
bathroom everything swayed," he said. "Things fell to the ground in
the office's kitchen."
But he has
seen no signs of damage in Kabul, even after driving a few miles around the
city.
Some 60 miles
southwest of Kabul, in the town of Ghazni, there were reports that the historic
gate had collapsed, accompanied by photos on social media.
Islamabad shakes
In Islamabad,
Pakistan, CNN correspondent Sophia Saifi was standing in the kitchen when her
microwave fell. She ran out of her building as it began to shake.
Minutes
later, as she stood outside, the ground was still trembling.
"We can
feel tremors at sporadic intervals," she said. But people were calm,
trying to make cell phone calls, while children played in the streets around
them. There was no damage Saifi could see.
In Quetta,
near the border with Afghanistan, there were no reports of casualties, Saifi
said, but there were "structural damages."
Pakistan's
military has been activated without waiting for formal orders, a military
spokesman said in a tweet.
Northern
Pakistan has seen recent heavy rains, and there are fears the quake may have
triggered landslides.
In the Hunza
Valley in that region, the quake reportedly shook loose a landslide at a
mountain glacier. Photos circulated on social media.
New Delhi, India, rumbles
Hundreds of
miles away in CNN's bureau in New Delhi, India, bureau chief Ravi Agrawal felt
tremors.
"We
could feel a fair bit of shaking," he said. "We could see tables
shaking a little bit; the TVs on the wall were shaking a little bit."
"The
last earthquake that brought shakes as bad as that was the Nepal
earthquake," Agrawal said.
India's
government expressed willingness to help out.
"I have
asked for an urgent assessment and we stand ready for assistance where
required, including Afghanistan & Pakistan," Indian President Narendra
Modi said in a tweet.
Quake felt in Kyrgyzstan
The
earthquake was felt all the way up in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyz
political activist Edil Baisalov told CNN that the shaking was "not
unusual for us but quite long tremors. As far as I know no damage in
Kyrgyzstan."
CNN's
Elizabeth Joseph, Ivan Watson, Sophia Saifi, Masoud Popalzai and Brian Walker
contributed to this report.
