KABUL, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Four people have been confirmed dead and 70 more injured as a 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked parts of Afghanistan on Tuesday night, spokesman of the Public Health Ministry Sharafat Zaman Amar said Wednesday.
"Latest reports that we have collected so far indicate four dead and 70 others injured," Amar told Xinhua.
Amar also noted that the number of casualties could go up as collecting information from provinces continues.
In the meantime, head of Natural Disaster Management Authority in the eastern Laghman province, Abidullah Alkozai in talks with Xinhua confirmed that two people including a child had been killed and 20 others injured in the tremor on Tuesday night.
More than 160 houses have been partially damaged or destroyed due to the quake in Laghman province, Alkozai confirmed.
Similarly, Qari Maazudin Ahmadi, the provincial director of Information and Culture in the northern Badakhshan province, has confirmed that the quake injured one person and partially damaged or destroyed more than 50 houses here.
The quake, according to officials, has claimed two lives in the northern Takhar Province.
In the meantime, acting Interior Minister of Afghan caretaker government, Sarajudin Haqqani has instructed concerned bodies to provide humanitarian aid to the affected families.
The earthquake with the epicenter in northern Badakhshan province jolted parts of Afghanistan including the capital city Kabul at 09:17 p.m. local time on Tuesday. ■
