5.8M earthquake rocks eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Feb 20: A strong earthquake rocked eastern Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on Friday, AFP journalists and residents said.

The 5.8-magnitude quake struck a mountainous area around 130 kilometres (80 miles) northeast of Kabul, the United States Geological Survey said.

The epicentre was near several remote villages and struck at 5:39 pm (1309 GMT), just as people in the Muslim-majority country were sitting down to break their Ramadan fast.

"We were waiting to do our iftars, a heavy earthquake shook us. It was very strong, it went on for almost 30 seconds," said Zilgay Talabi, a resident of Khenj district near of the epicentre.    �"AFP