A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake killed at least 70 people as it rocked south Asia on Monday, including 12 Afghan girls crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their collapsing school.LAY VIDEO
Nepal Earthquake: How Avalanches Work
Mt. Everest recently experienced an avalanche after an earthquake devastated Nepal. How does one trigger the other?
Thousands of frightened people rushed into the streets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as the quake shook a swathe of the subcontinent.
It was centered near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 kilometers (160 miles) from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.
Deadly Nepal Quake Devastates Vast Region: Photos
The epicenter is just a few hundred kilometers from the site of a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck in October 2005, killing more than 75,000 people and displacing some 3.5 million more, although that quake was much shallower.
The death toll rose rapidly Monday amid reports of buildings reduced to rubble, with Pakistan heavily hit.
Horrifying news emerged of at least 12 schoolgirls being trampled to death in a northern Afghan province.
Nepal Landmarks Destroyed By Quake: Photos
"The students rushed to escape the school building in Taluqan city (capital of Takhar), triggering a stampede," Takhar education department chief Enayat Naweed told AFP.
"Twelve students, all minors, were killed and 35 others were injured."
Separately, in Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan, Six people were killed and 69 injured, Najeeb Kamawal, head of the local public hospital told AFP.
At least 28 people were known to have died in Pakistan's northern tribal areas, 20 in the northwest, three in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Pakistani Kashmir, various officials told AFP.
Eight children were among the dead in Pakistan.
Nepal Earthquake: Health Threats Loom Over Survivors
The quake, which lasted at least one minute, shook buildings in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi.
At least one aftershock hit shortly afterwards, with the USGS putting its magnitude at 4.8.
In a statistical prediction on its website, the agency said there was a one-third chance of the number of fatalities climbing to between 100 and 1,000 people, with several million dollars' worth of damage likely caused.
Iran Magnitude-7.8 Quake Strongest In 50 Years
The rescue effort was being complicated by the lack of communications, with the region's already-fragile infrastructure hit.
Gul Mohammad Bidar, deputy governor of Badakhshan in Afghanistan, told AFP lines were down and it was difficult to reach stricken communities.
“The earthquake was very powerful -- buildings have been damaged (in Faizabad) and there are possible casualties. We have sent a team around the capital Faizabad to assess the scale of the destruction.”