KABUL, Afghanistan — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan early Wednesday morning, killing 255 people, the country’s state-run Bakhtar news agency said.
The quake struck about 28 miles southwest of the city of Khost, a provincial capital in the country’s southeast, the United States Geological Survey said. The quake occurred at a depth of about six miles.
Raees Hozaifa, the director of information and culture in the eastern province of Paktika, said by telephone that the death toll in that province alone was at least 250 people.
“We have 250 bodies, around 150 wounded,” he said.
The quake struck about 300 miles north-northeast of the site of a deadly 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in 2008, the U.S.G.S. said.
This is a developing story.
Safiullah Padshah reported from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Mike Ives from Seoul.
