Hundreds of people are feared dead after a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, with the toll expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages.
The tremor shook the Kunar and Nangahar provinces at about midnight local time on Monday (19:30 GMT, Sunday), local sources told Al Jazeera, with significant damage reported across several districts in the mountainous regions.
The Anadolu news agency meanwhile cited Afghanistan’s Information Ministry as saying that more than 250 people were killed and 500 injured in the quake.
The casualties were reported in Nur Gal, Sawki, Watpur, Manogi and Chapa Dara districts of Kunar province, it said.
The United States Geological Survey said the 6.0 magnitude quake was centred 27km (17 miles) east of the city of Jalalabad in the Nangahar province. It happened at a depth of just 8km (5 miles).
A short while later, another 4.5 magnitude tremor occurred near Basawul in Nangahar.
The effect of the quake was felt in neighbouring Pakistan, too.
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