A powerful earthquake rocked Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region on Saturday, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, with shaking felt across Kabul and into neighboring Pakistan.
In Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, residents in the Swat district rushed out of their homes in a panic. Local resident Daniyal Ahmad described the scene to Reuters, saying the quake was intense and went on for an unusually long time.
“It was very huge here in Swat and it lasted for quite a long time,” Ahmad said. “People came out of their houses and women and children were seen crying in panic.”
The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority released a statement saying there were no confirmed reports of casualties or damage at that time, but that assessments were still being conducted across affected areas.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre measured the quake at magnitude 6, placing its depth at approximately 100 kilometers — or about 62 miles — below the surface.
Earlier that same Saturday, a separate earthquake measuring magnitude 5.4 had already struck Pakistan, also according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
