At least 600 people have died and some 2,000 have been injured after a strong earthquake of magnitude 6 – and several aftershocks – have shaken on Sunday night east of Afghanistan, official sources reported.
“In the districts of Nurgal, Sawkay, Watapur, Dara Pech and Chapi Dara, approximately 600 people have died, some 2,000 were injured and hundreds of homes were destroyed,” said Efe Ihsanullah Ihsan, Information and Culture Director in Kunar, one of the affected provinces.
The United States Geological Service (USGS) has placed the epicenter of the main earthquake, of magnitude 6.0, 27 kilometers east of the province of Nangarhar and an eight -kilometer depth, which usually amplify the power of destruction.
The initial tremor, registered at 23.47 on Sunday local time (19.17 GMT), followed at least two replicas of magnitude 5.2.
