Strong earthquake shakes Pakistan and Afghanistan

KABUL: A strong earthquake struck ⁠Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region on Saturday, the ⁠European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said, sending out tremors that could be felt from the capital Kabul across the border into neighbouring Pakistan. People ​ran out of ⁠their doors in panic ​in Swat district in northern ‌Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, resident Daniyal Ahmad said.
There ​were no immediate reports of casualties. 'It was very huge here in Swat and it lasted for quite a long time,” he said. 'People came out of their houses and women and ​children were seen crying in panic.'
There were no ​immediate ‌official ⁠reports of casualties or damage, but checks were ongoing, the Afghanistan National Disaster Management ​Authority said in a statement. The ⁠magnitude 6 ​quake was at a depth of 100 km, EMSC said. An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 struck Pakistan earlier on Saturday, according ​to EMSC.
Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet. In April, a 5.8-magnitude quake in Badakhshan province killed 12 people and shook many parts of the country. In August 2025, a shallow 6.0-magnitude quake in the country's east wiped out mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people. — Reuters