Afghan quakes kill 15

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — Two earthquakes struck eastern Afghanistan in the predawn hours today, killing at least 15 people and destroying dozens of homes, a government spokesman said.

Spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the two quakes were centered about 50 miles east of Kabul, the capital. He said at least 20 people were hurt and an estimated 100 homes had been destroyed.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that Nangarhar province was hit by a magnitude 5.5 quake about 2 a.m. and a magnitude 5.1 aftershock two hours later.

A villager in Nangarhar’s Sherzad district, Shah Mohammad Khan, indicated that the death toll could go higher. Khan said 40 people were killed and 60 injured, but no government officials immediately confirmed those figures.

In the village of Mir Gadkhel, residents were scrambling through the rubble of houses flattened by the quake to recover bodies and rescue the injured.