Kathmandu: A powerful earthquake has killed at least 250 people and left scores injured in Afghanistan.

BBC, quoting a local government official, said the death toll of more than 250 was likely to rise, and that more than 150 others had been injured.

The quake struck about 44km (27 miles) from the south-eastern city of Khost.

Tremors were felt across more than 500km of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, quoted by Reuters.

The center said that witnesses had reported feeling the quake in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as well as Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.