An earthquake in Afghanistan has killed eight members of the same family when their home collapsed in the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul province.

Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said on Saturday that a child aged around two years old was the only survivor. Afghanistan’s disaster management agency said the boy was injured.

The 5.8-magnitude quake struck at 8:42pm local time (16:12 GMT) on Friday at a depth of 186km (115 miles). The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicentre was in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.

The capital Kabul is about 290km (180 miles) southwest of the epicentre.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in areas closer to the epicentre. The province is remote so it can often take several hours before local authorities can relay information back to Kabul.

Strong tremors were felt in multiple parts of Afghanistan, including Kabul and the Indian capital New Delhi, witnesses told the Reuters news agency.

Pakistan also felt the quake, including in the capital Islamabad and Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Previous quakes

Afghanistan is frequently jolted by earthquakes along the Hindu Kush mountain range – near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. On average, 560 people are killed by quakes there every year.

The deadliest tremor in the country’s recent history struck last August. The shallow magnitude 6 earthquake in eastern Afghanistan wiped out mountain villages, killing at least 2,200 people

Most casualties were in Kunar province, where Afghans typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.

Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions.

Many homes in rural and outlying areas are poorly built with bricks, wood and mud. (Al Jazeera)

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