A powerful earthquake that shook large parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan killed at least 12 people and injured more than 200.
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake damaged buildings, triggered landslides and threw people onto the streets.
It struck in a mountainous region in north-eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan on Tuesday evening.
tremors from the remote Jurm Valley felt as far away as India.
“It was a terrible shaking. I’ve never felt such a tremor in my life,” Kabul-based Khatera told AFP after fleeing her fifth-floor apartment.
Many families left their homes to celebrate the Persian or Norwegian New Year when the earthquake hit. But so far the observed damage has been less than expected, rescuers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told AFP.
However, the remoteness and rugged terrain of the affected areas may slow humanitarian and relief efforts.
Many people in the affected areas braved near-freezing temperatures to sleep outside after the quake, fearing aftershocks. Some ran barefoot from their homes when they felt the shaking.
In the capital Islamabad, a huge multi-storey building was evacuated after huge cracks appeared in the building.
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phone lines were damaged and in Pakistan, a highway was blocked by landslides in the hardest-hit area of Swat.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif has urged aid agencies to take urgent action to help the people. According to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center, the tremors were felt over a 1,000 km area that includes India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
Earthquakes are more likely in this region because it lies at the intersection of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.