5.7-magnitude quake strikes Afghanistan, Pakistan

Screegrab from https://earthquake.usgs.gov/

ISLAMABAD — A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, with strong tremors felt in the capital Kabul and Islamabad in neighboring Pakistan.

The quake struck at 0925 GMT at a depth of 65 kilometers (40 miles), 25 kilometers northwest of Jalalabad, the main town in eastern Afghanistan close to the Pakistani border, the USGS said. Pakistan’s meteorological office put the magnitude at 6.2.

There were no immediate reports of any damage.

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

In June 2012, two quakes in the area triggered landslides that killed at least 75 villagers.

Wednesday’s tremors came a week after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake centered in Iran affected thousands of people in remote southeastern Pakistan and killed 41 people.

Pakistan was hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake on October 8, 2005, that killed more than 73,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless, mainly in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.