A powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake killed at least 100 people as it rocked South Asia on Monday, including 12 Afghan girls crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their collapsing school.

Thousands of frightened people rushed into the streets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as the quake shook a swathe of the subcontinent.

It was centered near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan, 250 km from the capital Kabul and at a depth of 213.5 km, the US Geological Survey said.