Strong quake strikes Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush; no injuries reported initially

— A significant earthquake has hit the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan on Saturday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said, with vibrations felt from the capital Kabul over the border into adjacent Pakistan.

There were no initial official reports of injuries or damage from the earthquake, but checks were continuing, the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement.

The quake, measuring 6, was at a depth of 100 km (62 miles), the EMSC stated.

Earlier on Saturday, EMSC reported a magnitude 5.4 quake near Pakistan.

More than 20 people were injured and dozens of houses damaged in different parts of the Musakhail district in Pakistan, Abdul Razzaq Khajak, the district’s deputy commissioner, told Reuters.

Pakistan’s Balochistan province disaster management administration said 125 houses were damaged and assistance teams were sent to the affected region with tents and food, solar panels, blankets and other stuff.

In north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Swat district, people fled out of their doors in terror, resident Daniyal Ahmad told Reuters. There were no reports of any casualties immediately afterwards.“It was very huge here in Swat and it lasted for quite a long time,” he claimed.People had left their houses ⁠and women and children were sobbing in despair.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif voiced sorrow over the devastation caused and directed a swift reaction from the authorities to assist those impacted, his office said.