Eight Killed in Kabul House Collapse After Earthquake Shakes Region
Eight people were killed and a child injured when a house collapsed in Kabul on Friday following an earthquake in Afghanistan, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
The German Research Centre for Geosciences said a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region at a depth of about 177 km. Tremors were reported in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi, according to witnesses.
The quake was also felt across Uzbekistan. Seismic intensity reached around three on the scale in Surkhandarya, while several regions including Fergana, Syrdarya, Jizzakh and Samarkand recorded between two and three. In Tashkent, tremors of similar strength were registered, with the epicentre located roughly 526 km to the south-east in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan region.
Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain makes it highly vulnerable to natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, which cause hundreds of deaths each year on average.
A stronger 6.3-magnitude quake in November killed at least 27 people and destroyed hundreds of homes, underlining the country’s ongoing exposure to seismic risk.
