South Asia's most deadly earthquakes - as disaster strikes again

Latest 'quake in northern Afghanistan is the fifth to hit the area in 15 years

Pakistani policemen stand beside debris of collapsed houses after an earthquake in Kohat (AFP)

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake has rocked northern Afghanistan. At least 200 people have been confirmed dead so far and tremors were felt in Kabul, Islamabad and Kathmandu, making it one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit south Asia in recent years.

South Asia is a hotspot for natural disasters, with Mondays quake marking the fifth to hit the area in the last 15 years. Below is a list of the most deadly.

8 October 2005

Pakistan’s North West Frontier Provinence was hit by a shallow 7.6 magnitude earthquake which killed more than 75,000 people and displaced a further 2.8 million, making it the most deadly earthquake to ever hit south Asia.

Residents search the wreckage of a building hit by a strong earthquake in Islamabad in October 2005 (Getty Images)

31 May 1935

Still regarded as one of Pakistan’s most deadly earthquakes, the Quetta earthquake killed an estimated 30,000 – 60,000 people and seriously damaged the towns of Mastung and Kalat.

The 1935 earthquake at Quetta, Balochistan, British India (now part of Pakistan) occurred on 31 May

26 January 2001

Registering at a 7.7 magnitude, the earthquake hitting the Bhuj-Ahmadabad-Rajkot area of India killed 20,005 people, injuring a further 166,836, and destroying 339,000 buildings in the area.

A worker carries the belongings of a resident, retrieved from the earthquake rubble earlier, through the streets of Bhachau, January 2001 (Getty Images)

25 April 2015

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck central Nepal earlier this year, killing over 8,000 people. The region then suffered 120 aftershocks (smaller earthquakes that occur after a larger one), including one which measured 7.3 on the 12 May.

Emergency rescue workers carry a victim on a stretcher after Dharara tower collapsed in Kathmandu, Nepal, in April 2015 (Getty Images)

29 September 1993

Estimated to have caused over $300,000,000 worth of damage, the Killari earthquake that hit central India in 1993 reached a 6.2 magnitude and had a death toll of over 11,000 people.

The rubble and destruction in the aftermath of the earthquake in India in 1993 (Rex)