At least 40 people were killed when a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Afghan authorities said.
“We call on aid agencies to provide immediate assistance to the victims of the earthquake in order to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe,” government spokesman Bilal Karimi tweeted. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.9, occurred at a depth of 10 km at 1 a.m. Wednesday, very close to the border with Pakistan, according to the American Seismological Institute (USGS).