Earth Quake in Bagram

Strong quake strikes Afghanistan and Pakistan
Shaking felt in the Pakistani cities of Peshawar and the capital Islamabad


KABUL — A strong earthquake centered in the towering Hindu Kush mountains shook a wide area of eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan early Friday, swaying buildings in the Afghan and Pakistani capitals.
There were no initial reports of damage or casualties from the quake, which struck about 12:21 a.m. Afghan time.
However, the temblor was centered in a remote mountain area where communications are poor and reports of casualties take time to reach the capital.
The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 and was centered in the mountains about 167 miles northeast of Kabul and 140 miles west of Mingaora, Pakistan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Buildings shook in the Pakistani cities of Peshawar and the capital Islamabad, and the quake was felt as far east as Lahore near the Indian border, Pakistani television stations reported.
The Afghan Interior Ministry said it had no immediate reports of deaths or damage.
Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said that even though the quake was centered in a remote area, casualties were still possible given the size of the temblor. Caruso said Friday's quake was felt as far away as New Delhi, the Indian capital.
Caruso said the area is capable of producing large earthquakes because of the compression created when what is now India slammed against the Asian continent millions of years ago.
He said the largest quake recorded in that area was 7.8 on March 14, 1965.
Okay, so I'm still a little excited about what I just experienced (at about 12:25 AM) and I should have said the quake was enough to shake the Bhut that I live in, but it did make for a good laugh (what I wrote initially).The Earth moved significantly enough that items on my shelves were in motion just enough to assure me that I wasn't imagining things. I could feel the earth move under my feet. I went outside and put my hands on the picnic table to see if I could feel the Earth's motion -- sure enough I did. Wow that was something!!! I spoke with a couple of friends shortly after the quake, they felt it too, and they were in a building much sturdier than the Bhuts.