A 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Afghanistan on Monday, the US Geological Survey said. The quake struck 224 kilometres deep beneath the Hindu Kush mountains and close to the Wakhan Corridor, the narrow strip of far northeastern Afghanistan that lies between Tajikistan and Pakistan. It was felt strongly in Kabul, some 290 km from the epicentre, where people rushed into the streets in alarm, and even further away in Srinagar in India. In Pakistan the quake was felt in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the northwest, central province of Punjab, and Islamabad.