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Earthquake rattles Afghanistan, Pakistan

KABUL: A strong earthquake shook northeastern Afghanistan and Pakistan early Monday, sending people running from their homes, but there were no immediate reports of damage, witnesses and officials said.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck at 3:43 am, around 275 kilometres northeast of the Afghan capital Kabul and near the border with Pakistan, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake, which struck in the remote Hindu Kush mountain range, was registered at a depth of 190 kilometres, it said.

Shockwaves were felt as far away as Islamabad, where people ran from their homes fearing that buildings would collapse, an AFP correspondent in the Pakistani capital said.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties or major damage.

Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are often hit by earthquakes, especially around the Hindu Kush range near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, where seismic activity is high.

A series of quakes has struck the region in recent days, the most recent of which on Sunday was registered at a magnitude of 5.9.
Dawn

 

Author

Bilal Qureshi

Bilal Qureshi is a resident of Washington, DC, so it is only natural that he is tremendously interested in politics. He is also fascinated by the relationship between Pakistan, the country of his birth, and the United States of America, his adopted homeland. Therefore, he makes every effort to read major newspapers in Pakistan and what is being said about Washington, while staying fully alert to the analysis and the news being reported in the American press about Pakistan. After finishing graduate school, he started using his free time to write to various papers in Pakistan in an effort to clarify whatever misconceptions he noticed in the press, especially about the United States. This pastime became a passion after his letters were published in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and his writing became more frequent and longer. Now, he is here, writing a blog about Pakistan managed by Foreign Policy Association.

Areas of Focus:
Taliban; US-Pakistan Relations; Culture and Society

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