Earthquake jolts parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan

The earthq­uake measur­ed 5.8 on the Richte­r scale at its epicen­tre in Afghanistan.

KABUL: A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan Saturday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, with the quake felt in many parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The earthquake struck in the late evening at a depth of 115 kilometres (70 miles), some 140 kilometres north of Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad and 130 kilometres west of Chitral in neighbouring Pakistan.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage but shaking was felt in northwest Pakistan and capital Islamabad and even cities like Lahore.

The tremors were felt in Gilgit‚ Chitral‚ Skardu‚ Abbottabad‚ Swat‚ Muzaffarabad‚ Mirpur‚ Mansehra‚ Peshawar‚ Kohat‚ Nowshera‚ Islamabad‚ Lahore‚ Faisalabad‚ Gujranwala and Sarai Alamgir.

Northern Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.