A powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan yesterday, the US Geological Survey said, sending people in Kabul rushing into the streets and creating tremors as far away as Islamabad and New Delhi.

The quake struck at 0707 GMT near Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan in the Hindu Kush mountains at a depth of 191 kilometres, the USGS said.

Across the border in Pakistan, people came out on roads in Islamabad, Peshawar and Lahore, where homes, offices and schools were quickly evacuated. At least one infant was killed in Balochistan province after the roof of their home collapsed, a local official said.