The number of casualties in an earthquake that struck the eastern region of Afghanistan on Monday has reached 31, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported Tuesday.

"Thirty-one people were injured, and dozens of houses were destroyed in the earthquake in Gayan and Ziruk districts of Paktika province last night," Bakhter quoted the provincial director of information and culture, Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, as saying.

According to the official, 13 people, including women and children, were injured in Gayan and 18 others in the Ziruk district of the province.