Earthquake jolts cities from Kabul to Lahore

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 hit Afghanistan’s remote northeast late on Friday, meteorologists and witnesses said, rattling homes in the Afghan capital and large areas of neighbouring Pakistan.

The quake was felt across northern and central Pakistan, including the cities of Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore.

The quake was measured about 38 miles (61 km) southeast of Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan province, in Afghanistan’s mountainous northeast near the border with Tajikistan, accordingto the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Houses shook in Kabul when the quake was felt just before midnight (1930 GMT), setting off car alarms and sending some residents into the street, witnesses said.

Mountainous Afghanistan is an earthquake-prone country, with most concentrated in the northeast. The 2005 earthquake that hit Kashmir is one of the worst natural disasters in Pakistan’s history with more than 79,000 reported dead in the incident.