A massive rescue operation was underway in Afghanistan on Monday, after a strong earthquake collapsed homes onto sleeping families in a remote, mountainous region, killing more than 800 people with the toll expected to rise, Taliban authorities said.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck just before midnight, rattling buildings from Kabul to neighbouring Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

Casualties and destruction swept across at least five provinces and rescuers were still pulling people from destroyed homes and evacuating the injured by helicopter as evening approached.

"The search operation is still going on. Many people are stuck under the rubble of their roofs," the disaster management head in eastern Kunar province, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told AFP, warning the death toll could rise.

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