A moderate earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale hit the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan-Pakistan border at around 2:55pm on Wednesday. The epicenter of the earthquake was 250km northwest of Jalalabad in Afghanistan. It had a depth of 40 km.
People rushed out of their residences and offices in Srinagar in Kashmir while buildings in the national capital Delhi also reported to be swayed. Earthquake tremors were also felt in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. No loss to life or property has been reported from the affected areas as yet
Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range that lies near the juncture of the Eurasian-Indian tectonic plates. Two earthquakes that triggered landslides killed at least 75 people in June last year. The latest tremors came a week after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake centred in Iran affected thousands of people in remote southeastern Pakistan and killed 41 people.
Pakistan in the region 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.
Map by Sommerkom
