At least 12 killed in Afghan earthquake, says official

Qala-E-Naw, Jan 18 (IANS) At least 12 people were killed and many others injured after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Afghanistan's western province of Badghis on Monday, a local official has said."The worst-hit areas were Badruk, Darband-e-Safed and Khak Polak localities in Qadis district, east of the provincial capital Qala-e-Naw," Xinhua news agency quoted district chief Mohammad Saleh Purdil.Multiple houses were affected by the quake which occurred at 4:10 p.m., and the number of casualties may rise, the source said.The US Geological Survey said the earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 jolted 40 km east of Qala-e-Naw, the provincial capital of Badghis which borders Turkmenistan.The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 34.9479 degrees north latitude and 63.5686 degrees east longitude, it said.Several aftershocks were also felt in the region.
--IANS int/shs

(Disclaimer: This post has been auto published from IANS news agency without any modification to the text and has not been reviewed by editor)