Afghan quake kills 50, injures 200

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least 50 people were killed and 200 injured Friday when an earthquake shook northern Afghanistan, according to the Afghan Defense Ministry. Three villages in the district of Nahrin were destroyed by the quake.

The earthquake, which measured magnitude 5.8, was centered in the Hindu Kush region, according to the U.S. government's National Earthquake Information Center in Denver, Colorado. A powerful earthquake hit the same region last month, about 90 miles (145 km) north of Kabul.

Aid agencies were already in Nahrin to assist residents with cleanup and relief efforts, but treacherous terrain and winter weather have hampered their work. The series of earthquakes and aftershocks has destroyed hundreds of homes and left thousands homeless.

A powerful earthquake struck the same region in 1998, killing about 7,000 people.