AT least 500 people have been killed and over 1,000 injured after multiple earthquakes rocked eastern Afghanistan.
A 6.0 quake, the strongest, struck the Jalalabad area at around midnight local time – with tremors felt as far as Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, nearly 200 miles away.
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Towns in the province of Kunar, near Jalalabad and the Pakistani border, were close to the epicentre.
Entire villages are reported to have been destroyed.
State-run radio reported that around 500 people have been killed and 1000 injured.
The Kunar Disaster Management Authority said that at least 250 people were dead and 500 others injured in the districts of Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi and Chapadare.
Rescuers are working in several districts of the mountainous province where the quake hit.
Officials have said they expect the death toll to rise and that the terrain is making it tricky to reach survivors.
A spokesperson for the Taliban government said the quake has caused “loss of life and property damage in some of our eastern provinces”.
They added: “Local officials and residents are currently engaged in rescue efforts for the affected people.
“Support teams from the centre and nearby provinces are also on their way.”
Many of the buildings in the area are made of mud bricks and wood, making them vulnerable to natural disasters.
The 6.0 magnitude quake struck at 11:47pm, 17 miles northeast of Jalalabad, according to the US Geological Survey,
Its epicentre was 5 miles below ground.
There was a second earthquake in the same province about 20 minutes later, with a magnitude of 4.5 and a depth of 6.2 miles.
This was later followed by a 5.2 earthquake at the same depth.
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