The quake was centred 45 km from Sherzad district near the border with Pakistan. Unconfirmed local reports say 40 people died; 60 injured. Digging for bodies continues.

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Two earthquakes have hit Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, killing at least 22 people and injuring another 30. A 5.5-magnitude quake struck at 01.57 local time (21.27 GMT), followed by a 5.1-magnitude aftershock two hours later.

Ahmad Shekib Hamraz, a disaster management official, said that "the centre of the earthquake is located 45 kilometres km from Sherzad district".

Survivors in Mir Gadkhel village were scrambling through the rubble of flattened houses to recover bodies after the quake.

A villager in Sherzad, Shah Mohammad Khan, said that 40 people were killed and 60 injured, but government officials have not confirmed these figures. Hundreds of homes were destroyed.

US forces stationed in the region are standing by to assist if the Afghan government requests help.

The area hit by the quake is in a remote region of the country and distance makes relief operations by disaster management units that much harder.

Located along the Afghan-Pakistani border, the area in question is highly susceptible to quakes.

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

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