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
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