BREAKING UPDATE: Over 1000 people killed after 6.1 magnitude earthquake hits Afghanistan

A HUGE 6.1 magnitude earthquake has killed over one thousand people in Afghanistan, as the death toll has continued to rise.

UPDATE 1.43 pm (June 22) – Officials from the Afghan emergency services have released that at least a thousand people have been killed following the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 22.

More than 1,500 people have been injured.

At around 11.25 am, it was reported that at least 920 people had died following the quake, which hit around 44 km from the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan at a depth of 51 km.

Interior Ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi has said that he expressed the number of deaths to continue to rise.

UPDATE 11.25 am (June 22) – Afghan emergency officials have stated that at least 920 people have been killed as a result of the devasting earthquake that hit Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 22.

According to local reports, around 600 people are believed to have been injured in the 6.1 magnitude quake.

The number of dead has tragically risen dramatically within the last couple of hours.

At 9.48 am it was reported that at least 280 people had been killed.

Earlier, Interior Ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi warned: “The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details.”

The greatest area affected has been the province of Paktika.

UPDATE 9.48 am (June 22) – Afghanistan’s state-run news agency Bakhtar has reported at least 280 people have been killed following the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the country on Wednesday, June 22 – a rise of around 150 from earlier reports – with figures likely to increase.

Interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi has updated the figures from hours earlier and said that 255 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the province of Paktika, which has seen the most deaths as a result of the quake.

The earthquake is believed to struck the southeastern Afghanistan city of Khost, where 25 people had been killed and 90 taken to hospital.

“The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details,” he added.

A strong earthquake shook Afghanistan last night, killing at least 255 people and injuring 500 in Paktika province and at least 50 in Khost province.
We call on the international community to provide more humanitarian assistance to those affected by the earthquake.#SavePaktika pic.twitter.com/Yrw7pTbhZH

— jamshed paktin ( جمشېد پکتين ) (@pjamshid34) June 22, 2022

ORIGINAL 7.51 am (June 22) – According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the 6.1 magnitude earthquake rocked Afghanistan in the Middle East and killed more than 130 people.

The head of the Taliban administration’s disaster management authority, Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, said that the majority of the deaths were in the province of Paktika.

Mr Haqqani added that in Paktika at least 100 were killed and 250 injured.

Local media reports have suggested that further deaths were suffered in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Khost.

The USGS said that the earthquake hit around 44 km from the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan.

According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the earthquake struck at a depth of 51 km and was felt in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.1 – 44 km SW of Khōst, Afghanistan https://t.co/4ORKfdDXIR

— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) June 21, 2022