KABUL: Two earthquakes jolted eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 22 people and destroying scores of homes when they struck two hours apart overnight, local authorities said on Friday.
The quakes hit the district of Khogyani in Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border.
‘Four villages were heavily damaged by the two earthquakes. Overall, 22 people have been killed and 30 injured. More than 200 homes have been destroyed,’ Khogyani district governor Haji Said Rahman told AFP.
A 5.5-magnitude quake struck at 1:57 am Afghan time 85 kilometres southeast of the Afghan capital Kabul and 140 kilometres west of Peshawar, according to the US agency.
The quake was relatively shallow at a depth of eight kilometres.
It was followed just over two hours later by a 5.1-magnitude aftershock at a depth of just three kilometres.
Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently hit by earthquakes, especially around the Hindu Kush range near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
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