Ofure Akhigbe
At least 20 people have been killed and more than 320 injured after a powerful earthquake struck northern Afghanistan early Monday, according to local authorities.
The 6.3-magnitude quake hit near Mazar-e-Sharif, one of Afghanistan’s largest cities, at around 1:00 a.m. local time (20:30 GMT Sunday), the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake’s depth was recorded at 28 kilometers (17 miles) and classified under the “orange alert” level, indicating likely significant casualties.
The Taliban government’s health ministry confirmed the death toll and said rescue operations were underway. Officials warned that the number of casualties could rise as teams reach remote areas.
Haji Zaid, a Taliban spokesman in Balkh province, said many people were injured in Sholgara district, south of Mazar-e-Sharif, adding that most injuries were caused by people falling from tall buildings as they fled their homes.
Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif rushed into the streets in panic as buildings shook. The tremor caused a nationwide power outage after transmission lines from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan—major electricity suppliers to Afghanistan—were damaged.
Footage shared online showed debris scattered across the courtyard of the historic Blue Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, a 15th-century landmark revered by Shia Muslims.
Authorities in the nearby province of Samangan also reported fatalities, though the full extent of the damage remains unclear.
The latest quake comes just two months after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan in late August, killing more than 1,100 people.
Afghanistan is highly prone to seismic activity due to its position atop several major fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. Poor infrastructure and non-earthquake-resistant buildings continue to exacerbate the impact of such disasters.