13 December 2005
Afghanistan Hit By Strong Earthquake
A strong earthquake, magnitude 6.7 on Richter Scale, hits north-eastern Afghanistan at 0217 Hrs local time on Tuesday, 13th dec 2005, (12 Dec 2147 GMT) in the mountainous Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) has said.
The earthquake occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning about 230 km deep in the earth's crust, and around 340 km North-North-West of Islamabad, the USGS said, "The deeper an earthquake is the less likely it is to cause damage. This quake... is not likely to cause too much damage although it is possible."
Residents in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where tens of thousands died in the devastating eartquake which occurred on 08th October, fled their homes, reports say.
The tremor was also felt in India's capital, Delhi. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The tremor was felt in several Pakistan's cities, including Muzaffarabad and Balakot, that were devastated by the 8 October earthquake.
In Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, survivors of the October quake fled from their tents and homes.
There have been more than 1,000
aftershocks here in the past two months but this was the strongest tremor so far.
More than 73,000 people were killed in the October 08th earthquake which left at least three million people homeless.
The area stretching across Pakistan into India and Afghanistan sees a lot of seismic activity as it is at the point where the tectonic plates of Asia and Indian subcontinent collide.
