Strong 6.2 magnitude quake strikes Tajikistan-Afghanistan border, also felt in Pakistan
Photo courtesy of USGS


A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Afghanistan on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, sending people rushing outside and creating tremors felt as far away as Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

The tremor hit at a depth of 96 km (60 miles), about 67 km (42 miles) south of the provincial capital of Khorugh.

Omer Mohammadi, a spokesman for Afghanistan's disaster management authority, says two small children were injured when their home collapsed.

In Islamabad and Kabul, people fled their offices and homes and recited verses from the Quran in the streets.

Kabul was already on edge after a series of explosions rocked the city earlier in the day.

Suicide bombers and gunmen launched apparent coordinated attacks on two Kabul police stations, with security forces still searching buildings for some of the assailants.

At least two officers were killed and half a dozen civilians were wounded in the attacks, one of which was ongoing, police and health officials said, as the city braces for more violence in the coming days.

The two countries are prone to earthquakes.

Earlier Wednesday, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake rattled parts of eastern Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. That quake caused a stampede at a school in the northwestern city of Bannu, injuring at least 10 students, according to Mohammad Aslam, a local police official.