KABUL/ISLAMABAD, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- A strong earthquake struck Afghanistan and Pakistan on Friday, and no casualties have been reported so far.
The earthquake hit a number of provinces in northern and eastern Afghanistan and could be felt in the capital Kabul. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the quake with a magnitude of 6.1 jolted 51 km SW of Jarm, Afghanistan at 11:39:52 GMT on Friday.
The epicenter, with a depth of 210.22 km, was initially determined to be at 36.5344 degrees north latitude and 70.4374 degrees east longitude, the USGS said.
Officials in Afghan capital Kabul said they were assessing damage in areas around the sparsely populated epicenter.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's National Seismic Monitoring Center (NSMC) said an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 rocked parts of Pakistan on Friday. Disaster management officials said there have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority spokesperson said that the officials from the authority are in contact with the district disaster management units and other concerned departments, adding that no loss of life or property has been reported yet.
According to the NSMC, the epicenter of the quake which struck at 4:39 p.m. local time was determined in the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan, with a focal depth of 210 km. The quake lasted for several seconds.
The quake created panic among the people who scrambled out of buildings and compounds.
The tremors were felt in various cities of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and other northern areas of the country.
