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KABUL, April 17, 2009 (AFP) - Two moderate earthquakes rattled the Hindu Kush border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the early hours of Friday, the US Geological Survey reported.
A 5.5-magnitude quake struck at 1:57 am Afghan time (2127 GMT Thursday) 85 kilometres (55 miles) southeast of the Afghan capital Kabul and 140 kilometres west of the Pakistani city of Peshawar, according to the US agency.
The quake was relatively shallow at a depth of eight kilometres.
It was followed just over two hours later by a 5.1-magnitude aftershock at a depth of just three kilometres.
Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently hit by earthquakes, especially around the Hindu Kush range near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in northwest Pakistan and Kashmir in October 2005 killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million.
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