Afghanistan rocked by two successive quakes

Afghanistan was rocked by two successive earthquakes of more than four magnitude on Saturday, the National Centre for Seismology said here. The first earthquake that struck northern Afghanistan at 4:51 am India Standard Time was of 4.3 magnitude. This was followed by a second more powerful tremor of 4.7 magnitude at 5:16 am IST.

The epicentre of both the quakes was located about 280 km from Kabul. The focal depth of the two quakes was over 180 km.

The Afghanistan quakes come a day after Myanmar was hit with two strong shallow earthquakes leading to widespread damage.


Regions as far as Bangkok in Thailand also felt the impact with an under construction 30-storey skyscraper collapsing like a pack of cards and several tall buildings swaying, triggering panic among residents.