At least 100 dead after strong quake hits Afghanistan and Pakistan - UPDATED

Baku. 26 October. REPORT.AZ/ A powerful earthquake struck a remote area of Afghanistan on Monday, shaking the capital Kabul and killing at least 24 people while 76 were killed in neighboring Pakistan, Report informs referring to Reuters, the officials said.

The death toll could climb in coming days because communications were down in much of the rugged Hindu Kush mountain range area where the quake was centered.

Reports of deaths had poured in from different areas of both countries by nightfall.

In one of the worst incidents, at least 12 girls were killed in a stampede to get out of their school in the northeastern Afghan province of Takhar.

"They fell under the feet of other students," said Abdul Razaq Zinda, provincial head of the Afghan National Disaster Management Agency, who reported heavy damage in Takhar.

Shockwaves were felt in northern India and in Pakistan, where hundreds of people ran out of buildings as the ground rolled beneath them.

***16:11 

A deadly magnitude-7.5 earthquake hit northeastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 30 people there and in neighboring Pakistan.

The victims included 12 girls who were students at a school in the Afghan province of Takhar, an official told NBC News. At least 11 people were also killed in Pakistan, Report informs referring to local police and health officials.

The quake came just days after rain fell in many parts of Afghanistan, potentially making mud-built houses vulnerable.

The temblor struck at around 2:10 p.m. (5:10 a.m. ET) and occurred in remote area of the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan around 28 miles south-southwest of Jarm, according to the USGS. The agency later revised its magnitude from a preliminary 7.7 to 7.5.

The governor of the Afghan province of Badakhshan, where the quake's epicenter was located, told NBC News that "homes were destroyed." Shah Waliullah Adeeb added that authorities had been unable to make contact with some remote districts.

***14:38 

A powerful earthquake has struck northern Afghanistan, with tremors felt as widely as Pakistan and northern India.

Report informs referring to the foreign media, the magnitude 7.7 quake was centred in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, 45km (28 miles) south-west of Jarm, the US Geological survey reported.

In Pakistan, local news channels showed people evacuating office buildings.

There is no official word on casualties but one report said four people had been killed in north-west Pakistan.

Officials said the quake happened at a depth of 212km (133 miles).

A BBC correspondent in the Pakistani city of Lahore said phone lines were down following the quake.

People in the Indian capital Delhi ran into the streets after the tremor struck, witnesses said.

The region has a history of powerful earthquakes.