NEW DELHI: A powerful earthquake with magnitude 6.1 struck eastern Afghanistan early on Wednesday killing at least 280 people and leaving over 600 wounded; Afghan’s state-run Bakhtar news agency reported.

The news agency's director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, in a tweet said that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed trapped under the rubble.

"A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses," Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, said on Twitter. "We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe," he added.

The footage from the quake-hit province showed victims being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area. Images widely circulating online from the province showed destroyed stone houses, with residents picking through clay bricks and rubble.

Tremors were also felt in the Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, and elsewhere in the eastern Punjab province. Some remote areas of Pakistan saw reports of damage to homes near the Afghan border, but it wasn't immediately clear if that was due to rain or the earthquake, said Taimoor Khan, a disaster management spokesperson in the area.