According to official figures, at least 1,000 people died in a devastating earthquake in the Afghan-Pakistani border region.

At least 1,500 residents in eastern Afghanistan were injured after the quake late Tuesday evening, the state news agency Bakhtar reported on Wednesday.

An eyewitness told the German Press Agency of the destruction in the affected areas.

“There is great chaos everywhere.

I counted a hundred bodies in an hour," said journalist Rahim Chan Chushal.

"The horror is great.

Parents cannot find their children and children cannot find their parents.

Everyone wonders who is dead and who is alive.

The houses are made of mud and that is why they were all destroyed by the strong earthquake.”

The Taliban leadership expressed its sympathy and condolences to the victims.

According to the government, dozens of houses in Paktika and Khost provinces were destroyed.

Many animals also died.

Afghan media reported that one village had been completely destroyed.

The construction in the poor and economically weak region is not earthquake-proof for cost reasons, many families live close together.

In addition, the earthquake is likely to have surprised the residents at night.

More victims feared

Meanwhile, civil protection fears an even higher number of victims.

The rescue work was made more difficult by the access to the remote mountain region.

The militant Islamist Taliban, who have ruled Afghanistan again since August 2021, called an emergency cabinet meeting.

Several helicopters were sent to the disaster area to help local people.

A government spokesman called on aid organizations for support.

Helpers from the Red Crescent arrived on Wednesday.

The information from regional seismic stations on the strength initially fluctuated.

Pakistani authorities gave the earthquake late Tuesday evening (local time) with a magnitude of 6.1.

The US earthquake monitor (USGS) reported magnitude 5.9 and a slightly weaker aftershock.

Accordingly, the center of the earthquake was around 50 kilometers southwest of the city of Khost near the border with Pakistan at a depth of around ten kilometers.

According to Pakistani information, the tremors were felt in large parts of the country, in the capital Islamabad and even in Lahore in the east of the country.

According to the civil protection authority, local emergency services tried to gain access to the affected remote mountainous region.

The Pakistani side initially gave no information on damage and casualties.