KABUL: Two children died when a building collapsed in a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday, provincial officials and US seismologists said.
The epicentre of the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres (six miles), was located 27 kilometres east-northeast of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey.
The quake struck at 11.47pm (1917 GMT), USGS said.
Two children died when their home’s roof caved in during the shaking, according to initial reports from provincial authorities.
At least 15 other people were injured, officials said in a statement.
The quake shook buildings from Kabul to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad around 370 kilometres away for several seconds, AFP journalists said.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
Nangarhar province was also hit by flooding overnight Friday to Saturday, which left five people dead and destroyed crops and property, provincial authorities said. –AFP
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