Magnitude-6 earthquake jolts northern Pakistan

August 31, 2014 06:39 pm | Updated 06:39 pm IST - PESHAWAR

Authorities in Pakistan say a magnitude-6 earthquake has struck the country’s north, though there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Pakistan Meteorological Department official Mohammad Shahid said people felt the quake Sunday in Peshawar and Islamabad. He said its epicenter was in the Hindu Kush mountains on the country’s border with Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

The U.S. Geological Survey described the temblor as a magnitude-5.1 quake that hit in Afghanistan, some 280 kilometres northeast of the capital, Kabul. Such conflicting data is common immediately after an earthquake.

Pakistan and the region, along an active continental plate boundary, is often hit by earthquakes. In September 2013, a magnitude-7.7 quake struck Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, killing at least 376 people.

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