An overnight earthquake in Afghanistan has killed eight members of the same family in Kabul province, the health ministry said on Saturday.
The 5.8-magnitude quake struck at 8:42 pm on Friday at a depth of 186 kilometres, with its epicentre in northeastern Badakhshan Province, according to the US Geological Survey. Tremors were felt across several regions, including the capital, Kabul.
“In the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul Province, eight members of a family died as a result of the earthquake,” health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said, adding that a two-year-old child was the sole survivor and was injured in the quake.
Afghanistan is prone to frequent seismic activity, particularly along the Hindu Kush range, where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet. In August, a magnitude 6 quake devastated villages in eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 2,200 people in one of the country’s deadliest recent disasters.
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