Six killed in Afghanistan earthquake

KABUL/ISLAMABAD: At least six people were killed and nine others injured after an earthquake in eastern Afghanistan overnight, an official said on Monday. The 5.3-magnitude temblor that hit districts along the eastern border with Pakistan comes less than three months after a powerful quake killed more than 1,000 people, also along the same frontier.

The latest quake was felt in the provinces of Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar, and in the capital Kabul. "We are collecting information from other areas regarding casualties and damages," deputy minister for disaster management Sharafuddin Muslim said.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes -- especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. On June 22, the country’s deadliest earthquake in over two decades -- of magnitude 5.9 -- killed more than 1,000 people and injured thousands.

In 2015, about 380 people were killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake ripped across the two countries. Meanwhile, an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale jolted the federal capital and several cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab late on Sunday night.

The tremors were felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad, Swabi, Mohmand, Bajour, Buner and their adjacent areas, local media outlets reported. People came out of their homes in panic and started reciting verses from the Holy Quran, however, no loss of life and property was reported from any part of the country. According to US Geological Survey data, the epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Koh Hindukush mountainous region in Afghanistan at the depth of 10 kilometres.