At least 10 people were killed by a strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake and multiple aftershocks in eastern Afghanistan, provincial Nangarhar government officials said on Monday.
“In Dara-i-Nur district, the death toll has reached nine, and the number of injured has reached 20,” a Nangarhar government statement said.
The head of the Nangarhar provincial hospital, Fahimullah Dilawar, later said another person had died, bringing the confirmed toll to ten.
Two children were killed when the roof of their home caved in during the shaking, according to initial reports from provincial authorities.
AFP photos showed several injured children seen receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
The earthquake struck just before midnight, shaking buildings from Kabul to neighbouring Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, around 370 kilometres (230 miles) away, for several seconds, AFP journalists said.
The epicentre of the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, was 27 kilometres from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey.
Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deep tremors.
