Georgia saddened by deadly earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Georgia is offering its sympathies to Afghanistan and Pakistan following yesterday’s deadly earthquake, which killed more than 300 people and left a further 2,000 injured. 

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit remote areas in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday.

Today Georgia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement offering its sympathies to the many victims of the disaster.

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry offers its condolences to the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan and to their people and the families of those who were killed in the disaster,” the statement read.

In the hours following the earthquake, rescue teams were sent to the remote mountainous areas where the impact of the earthquake was still unclear, the BBC reported. 

Earlier today the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported the earthquake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 76km south of Faizabad, in Badakhshan province. The earthquake struck deep – more than 200km below the surface – meaning the shaking at ground level was less than for a shallow earthquake.

In the BBC report the USGS said a series of aftershocks, all measuring 4.0 or higher, had struck west of the original earthquake.

The BBC said the region had a history of powerful earthquakes caused by the northward collision of India with Eurasia. The two plates were moving towards each other at a rate of 4-5cm per year, the media outlet added. 

In 2005 a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Pakistan-administered Kashmir left more than 75,000 people dead. In April this year Nepal suffered its worst earthquake on record, with 9,000 people killed and about 900,000 homes damaged or destroyed.