ISLAMABAD: Buildings shook in Pakistan and Afghanistan as an earthquake struck in the northern Hindu Kush region on Thursday, according to a preliminary report by the US Geological Survey.

In the Afghan capital Kabul, the earthquake was measured at 5.8 in the Richter scale while in Pakistan, the quake hit various cities from capital Islamabad down to the Punjab province.

The areas hit in Pakistan included Islamabad, as well as Charsadda, Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi, Buner, Malakand, Swat, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Orakzai Agency, Momand Agency and in Punjab, the affected region included Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Mandi Bahauddin.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

In Kabul, office workers felt their chairs shake briefly and desk lamps swayed as the tremor hit.

The quake struck some 72 kilometres south east of Faizabad, capital of Badakhshan province, and 121 kilometres northwest of Chitral in Pakistan at a depth of 190 kilometres, the USGS said.

Northern Afghanistan and Pakistan are frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush, which lies near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.