Srinagar: On Monday, a massive earthquake struck remote and impoverished regions of northern Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing at least 280 people as it shook buildings across South Asia and knocked out power and communications to already-isolated areas

The 7.5-magnitude quake was centered deep beneath the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan’s sparsely populated Badakhshan province, which borders Pakistan, Tajikistan and China, the U.S. Geological Survey said

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says U.N. agencies are mobilizing and are ready to support government-led relief operations for earthquake victims in Afghanistan and Pakistan if asked.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday that “reports are still coming in but it is clear that there has been loss of life and serious damage to infrastructure in both countries.” He said Ban sends his deepest condolences to the governments and people of Afghanistan and Pakistan especially to those affected by the quake who lost family or friends. Dujarric said scattered reports indicate damage across northeast Afghanistan and in Kabul. He said the government and U.N. are hampered by the lack of phone service