Large portions of Pakistan and Afghanistan were shaken by a strong earthquake that left at least 12 people dead and more than 200 injured, BBC reported.

Buildings were damaged by the 6.5-magnitude earthquake, which also caused landslides and forced residents to flee into the streets.

It happened on Tuesday night and was centred in a hilly area in northern Afghanistan, close to the Pakistani border. Strong tremors were also felt in Jammu and Kashmir, forcing people to rush out of their homes late evening. The photos and videos of the same have appeared on social media.

India was affected by the tremors coming from the isolated Jurm valley.

“The tremor was terrifying. I had never experienced a tremor like that in my life “Khatera, a native of Kabul, spoke to AFP news agency after hurriedly leaving her residence on the fifth floor.

Nine of the verified fatalities were recorded in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa valley, the report said.

According to the spokesman for the Afghan health ministry, two more people died in Afghanistan. According to AFP, among those killed in the Laghman province near the Pakistani border of the nation was a toddler. As the earthquake struck, several families were out of their houses celebrating Norwuz, the Persian New Year.

Phone connections have been impacted, and in Pakistan, landslides have blocked the highway in the worst-affected Swat region.

Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, has requested that emergency action be taken by disaster relief organisations.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre, tremors were detected throughout a 1,000 km area that includes India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan.