Strong quake rattles Afghanistan

AFP | Kabul, Afghanistan                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A powerful earthquake hit northeastern Afghanistan on Thursday, shaking buildings from the capital Kabul to Islamabad in neighbouring Pakistan.

The epicentre of the 6.4-magnitude earthquake was in Jurm district in the Afghan province of Badakhshan in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, according to the US Geological Survey.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

It struck at a depth of around 200 kilometres (125 miles) just before 2:00 pm (0930 GMT) and was felt in the capital Kabul, about 300 kilometres from Jurm.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

In October last year, around 1,000 people were killed when a series of quakes with magnitudes measuring between 4.2 and 6.3 jolted western Afghanistan.

Months later, thousands of people are still living in tents in the affected region as winter weather sets in, with 10,000 homes destroyed, according to the UN's refugee agency.

Afghanistan's deadliest recent earthquake killed 5,000 in 1998 in the northeastern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.