Omfanget af mandagens katastrofe var endnu uklart da natten faldt på over det øde og barske terræn mens myndighederne i Pakistan og Afghanistan skyndte sig med redningsarbejdet.
I den mest uhyggelige tragedie som er kommet til lyset fra jordskælvet er 12 unge afghanske piger som blev trampet til døde , da de forsøgte at flygte ud af den rystende skolebygning.
Flertallet af de omkomne blev rapporteret fra Pakistan, hvor 214 blev dræbt og mere end 1800 kvæstet, sagde myndighederne fra redningsarbejdet.
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Afghanistan earthquake death toll nears 300
"Many houses and buildings have collapsed in the city," said Arbab Muhammad Asim, district mayor for the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Many people were trapped under piles of rubble, with officials warning that the toll was set to rise.
"The building was swinging like a pendulum, it felt as if the heavens would fall," Peshawar shop owner Tufail Ahmed told AFP.
Afghan officials said at least 63 people were confirmed dead and hundreds more injured, with casualties reported from around half a dozen of the country's 34 provinces.
The government has implored aid agencies for relief.
But large swathes of Badakhshan, the remote province where the epicentre is located, and other areas are effectively controlled by the Taliban, posing a huge challenge to any official aid efforts.
"Today's earthquake was the strongest one felt in the recent decades," said Afghanistan's chief executive Abdullah Abdullah.
"Initial reports show a big loss of life and huge financial losses in Badakhshan, Takhar, Nangarhar, Kunar and other regions. Exact numbers are not known because phone lines are down and communication has been cut off in many areas."
A dozen Afghan schoolgirls, all under 16, were trampled to death in the remote northern province of Takhar as they rushed to escape their classrooms when the quake struck.
Bystanders rushed the dazed and terrified survivors to hospital, many lying limp in the arms of their rescuers, as doctors tried reviving some of them by pumping their chests manually.
"When the aggrieved relatives of the dead students came to collect their bodies, they were so distressed that they could not even talk to authorities to record their names," said Hafizullah Safai, head of the Takhar health department.
The quake was centred near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250km from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5km, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake, which lasted at least one minute, shook buildings in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, sending thousands of frightened people rushing into the streets.
Source: AFP
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