ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake that rocked parts of South Asia killed at least 215 people yesterday, including 12 Afghan girls crushed in a stampede as they fled their collapsing school.

At least 1,000 more were injured and hundreds of homes destroyed as the quake shook a swathe of the subcontinent, sending thousands of frightened people rushing into the streets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

It was centred near Jurm in north-east Afghanistan, 250 kilometres (160 miles) from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.

“Initial reports show a big loss of life, huge financial losses in Badakhshan, Takhar, Nangarhar, Kunar and other regions, including the capital Kabul,” said Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

At least 63 people were confirmed dead in Afghanistan and 152 in Pakistan, according to officials, with the toll set to rise.

“Exact numbers are not known because phone lines are down and communication has been cut off in many areas,” Abdullah said, adding that the Government has asked aid agencies for relief.

“The quake wreaked huge devastation in some districts,” said the governor of Badakhshan province, Shah Wali Adib. “So far 1,500 homes are reported to be damaged or destroyed.”

Horrifying news emerged of at least 12 schoolgirls being trampled to death and 35 others who were injured in a northern Afghan province.

“The students rushed to escape the school building in Taluqan city (capital of Takhar), triggering a stampede,” Takhar Education Department Chief Enayat Naweed told AFP.

Arbab Muhammad Asim, district mayor for Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, said more than 100 people had been injured there alone.

“Many houses and buildings have collapsed in the city,” he said.

Dr Muhammad Sadiq, the head of emergency services at a government hospital in Peshawar, said the injured were still being brought in and many were still under rubble.

“The building was swinging like a pendulum; it felt as if the heavens would fall,” Peshawar shop owner Tufail Ahmed told AFP.

“I have never seen such a massive earthquake in my life — it was huge!” 87-year-old Peshwar resident Mohammad Rehman said.

The quake, which lasted at least one minute, shook buildings in Kabul, Islamabad, and New Delhi.

Traffic came to a halt in downtown Kabul, with frightened people getting out of their cars as they waited for the quake to stop.

Live footage from an Afghan news broadcast showed the anchor abandoning his desk as the quake shook the cameras.

Restaurants and office buildings emptied in Islamabad, with cracks appearing in some buildings, but no major damage reported.

Hundreds of people in north India poured onto the streets from office blocks, hospitals, and homes.

Delhi’s metro ground to a halt during the tremor, although the airport continued operating.

In the Kashmir region, panicked residents evacuated buildings and children were seen huddling together outside their school in the main city of Srinagar.

The rescue effort was being complicated by the lack of communications, with the region’s already fragile infrastructure hit.

Gul Mohammad Bidar, deputy governor of Badakhshan in Afghanistan, told AFP lines were down and it was difficult to reach stricken communities.

“The earthquake was very powerful — buildings have been damaged (in Faizabad) and there are possible casualties,” he said.

One aftershock hit shortly afterwards, with the USGS putting its magnitude at 4.8.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter immediately after the quake, saying that India stood ready to assist, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan if required.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.