Dozens killed as 6.1 magnitude quake shakes Afghanistan, Pakistan

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The earthquake shook parts of eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan during the early hours of Wednesday, the US Geological Survey says.

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 has killed at least 130 people in Afghanistan, the country’s disaster management authority says.

The quake shook parts of eastern Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan during the early hours of Wednesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The death toll is likely to rise, media reports said.

The quake struck about 44 km (27 miles) from the city of Khost in southeastern Afghanistan and was at a depth of 51km (31 miles), according to the USGS.

Shaking was felt over a range of some 500km (310 miles) by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said in a tweet.

It was felt in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul as well as Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, according to witness accounts posted on the EMSC website and by users on Twitter.

“Strong and long jolts,” one witness posted on EMSC from Kabul. “It was strong,” another witness posted from Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department said the quake jolted parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, according to Dawn news website, which added that there were no immediate news of deaths or damage.