According to authorities, at least 280 people were dead, and hundreds more were injured early on Wednesday in Afghanistan as a result of a magnitude 6.1 earthquake. The number is expected to grow as word comes in from remote mountain villages.

A lot of people were at home, asleep in their beds, when the earthquake happened, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGC), around 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, close to the Pakistani border, soon after 01:30 local time (21:00 Tuesday GMT).
According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, which was cited by Reuters, tremors were felt along more than 500 kilometres of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

According to the centre, witnesses claimed to have felt the earthquake in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. However, there have not yet been any reports of injuries, and little damage has been done there as reported by BBC Urdu.

A Kabul, Afghanistan, resident wrote on the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre's website, 'Strong and lengthy jolts' (EMSC).
It was powerful, according to a Peshawar, Pakistan resident.
Images posted on Afghan media showed buildings in ruins and the dead lying on the ground with blankets over them.

The USGC reported a magnitude of 5.9. However, the EMSC reported a magnitude of 6.1.
According to Salahuddin Ayubi, an official with the interior ministry, most of the fatalities were reported in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika, where 255 people had died and more than 200 had been injured.

He said that 25 fatalities and 90 hospitalizations had occurred in the province of Khost.
He predicted that the death toll would grow since some of the settlements were in isolated mountainous locations, and it would take some time to gather information.
Helicopters were being utilised by the authorities to reach the injured and provide food and medical supplies, he added.

According to the EMSC's Twitter post, 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India experienced shaking.
No early reports of damage or injuries in Pakistan were available.
The tragedy occurred as U.S.-led international forceswere leaving Afghanistan after 20 years of war, and Afghanistan has been going through a terrible economic crisis since the Taliban seized power in August.

Pictures reveal landslides and destroyed mud-built dwellings in the eastern Paktika province, where rescuers are rushing to treat the injured.
Helicopters have been used in distant places to transport patients to hospitals.
Numerous homes have been damaged, according to Taliban commander Hibatullah Akhundzada, and the death toll is certain to climb.

He said, 'Unfortunately, 300 civilians have been martyred and more than 500 injured.'
More than 600 people were injured, according to a report by the Bakhtar News Agency, and the death toll was sure to grow. 

“Unfortunately, last night there was a severe earthquake in four districts of Paktika province, which killed and injured hundreds of our countrymen and destroyed dozens of houses,' Deputy Press Secretary Bilal Karimi tweeted.
'We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.'

In Afghanistan, earthquakes may inflict a great deal of damage, especially in the numerous rural areas where many homes are not as sturdy or well-built.
Due to its location in a seismically active area and its proximity to various fault lines, including the Chaman fault, the Hari Rud fault, the Central Badakhshan fault, and the Darvaz fault, Afghanistan is also susceptible to earthquakes.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 7000 people have perished in earthquakes in the nation during the previous ten years. Earthquakes cause 560 fatalities annually on average.