Islamabad: The death toll in the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit parts of Pakistan on Monday has risen to 272, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan said on Thursday.
According to the NDMA, at least 2,123 people were also injured and 25,364 houses damaged by the earthquake.
Monday's earthquake hit the country at about 2.09 p.m. and its epicentre was determined in Mount Hindu Kush, located along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The quake was felt in most parts of Pakistan but caused more damage in the northwestern mountainous parts of the country.
The NDMA said 225 people were killed in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -- the worst hit area, 30 in northwestern tribal regions, 10 in Gilgit-Baltistan, five in eastern Punjab province and two in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was in Britain when the earthquake hit the country, cut his stay short and rushed back and chaired high-level meetings to devise strategy to deal with the disaster.
The Pakistan meteorological department said that after Monday's quake, a series of aftershocks ranging from 2.5 to 5.3 magnitude have been recorded in the country.
