Saturday 04 / April / 2026
Kabul: At least eight people were killed in Kabul after an earthquake of magnitude 5.9 rattled parts of northern Afghanistan and western Pakistan late on Friday, officials said.
The quake was centered in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometers east of the Afghan city of Kunduz, and was felt across Afghanistan, and in parts of Pakistan and India.
The quake was at a depth of 177 kilometres (110 miles), the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said.
Earthquake topples homes in Afghanistan
Eight members of a family were killed, and a child was injured when a house collapsed on the outskirts of Kabul, Hafizullah Basharat, a spokesperson for the Kabul governor, said.
Authorities said that a solid assessment of damage could potentially be delayed because of the remoteness of the epicenter of the earthquake.
Health officials across Afghanistan were placed on alert.
Tremors felt in Pakistan and India
In Pakistan, the quake was felt in the cities and towns of Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
In India, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kargil also experienced the tremors, local media reports said.
Deadly earthquakes in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes. Last August, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan's mountainous Kunar province killed more than 2,200 people and injured thousands more.
In October 2023, a 6.3 magnitude quake near Herat city in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.
