At least 12 people were injured in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province after an earthquake jolted the country just before midnight on Friday, officials said on Saturday.
A number of Nangarhar University students in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, were injured during a stampede while trying to run out of a building during the quake, said Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor.
The 6.2 magnitude quake struck around 11.45pm on Friday and lasted about a minute. It was also felt in the capital, Kabul, sending residents rushing into the street for safety.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said two regions of Afghanistan were affected — east and north-east — but the expected impact was “small to medium scale”.
The quake’s epicentre was in the Zebak district of Badakhshan province in the country’s north, but no casualties or damage from the area had been reported, OCHA said.
In neighbouring Takhar province, to the east, very little damage was reported aside from three houses in Taloqan city, it said. The northeastern region of Afghanistan is a mosaic of valleys and mountains; it is remote and sparsely populated, and difficult for damage assessors to reach.
In eastern Nagarhar, Kunar and laghman provinces, the damage was also limited. Overall, five provinces were affected, with 12 people injured and 16 houses damaged, OCHA said.
There were no reports of casualties or serious property damage in Kabul.