Moderate quake strikes Afghanistan

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's mountainous Hindu Kush region early today, US seismologists said.

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's mountainous Hindu Kush region early on Thursday, US seismologists said.

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The quake hit at 04:22am (05:22 IST) just over 200 kilometres north of the capital Kabul, the United States Geological Survey said.

Its epicentre was 55 kilometres deep.

Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently hit by earthquakes, especially around the Hindu Kush range near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in October 2005 killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million.