Afghanistan quake leaves eight of a family dead near Kabul

AN EARTHQUAKE that struck Afghanistan overnight has killed eight members of the same family in Kabul province, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The 5.8-magnitude quake hit at 8.42 pm (1612 GMT) on Friday at a depth of 186 kilometres (115 miles), with its epicentre in northeastern Badakhshan province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Shaking was felt in several parts of the country, including the capital Kabul, AFP journalists reported.

"In the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul Province, eight members of a family died as a result of the earthquake," Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said in a message to media.

He added that a child aged around two years old was the only survivor from the household. The country's disaster management agency said the boy had been injured in the tremor.

Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes, especially along the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.

In August, a shallow magnitude 6 earthquake destroyed mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people in eastern Afghanistan, making it the deadliest tremor in the country's recent history.