At Least 20 Dead, Over 500 Injured As Powerful Earthquake Strikes Northern Afghanistan

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 20 people and injured more than 500 others in northern Afghanistan, authorities confirmed on Monday, just months after another devastating tremor rocked the country.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck overnight at a depth of 28 kilometres (17 miles), with its epicentre near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

“Based on the information we have so far, 534 people have been injured and more than 20 fatalities have been taken to hospitals in Samangan and Balkh provinces,” said Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman.

In Mazar-i-Sharif one of Afghanistan’s largest northern cities residents rushed into the streets in panic as the ground shook violently. 

The city’s iconic Blue Mosque, a 15th-century landmark famed for its striking turquoise tiles, suffered visible damage.

Pieces of the historic structure, including parts of one of its minarets, broke off and were seen scattered across the mosque’s courtyard, one of Afghanistan’s few remaining tourist attractions.

Correspondents in Kabul, about 420 kilometres to the south, also reported feeling the tremor.

Poor communication networks and difficult terrain have long hampered Afghanistan’s disaster response efforts, often delaying rescue operations in remote mountain villages for hours or even days.

The Defence Ministry confirmed that emergency teams had managed to reopen the main road connecting Mazar-i-Sharif and Kholm, rescuing several stranded residents overnight.

“Numerous homes have been destroyed, and significant material losses have been incurred,”
wrote Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban authorities, on X (formerly Twitter), without providing further details.

The recent quake adds to a string of natural disasters that have hit the country since the Taliban took power in 2021. The government has faced three major earthquakes in that time, even as international aid, once the backbone of Afghanistan’s economy has sharply declined.

In August, a shallow 6.0-magnitude quake in eastern Afghanistan leveled entire mountainside villages, killing more than 2,200 people. The World Bank later estimated damages from that disaster at $183 million, mostly from the destruction of homes and critical infrastructure.

Earthquakes are frequent in Afghanistan, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet. Large tremors in Herat (2023) and Nangarhar (2022) also claimed hundreds of lives and left thousands homeless.

Many Afghan homes often made of mud bricks and poorly reinforced are unable to withstand strong quakes, especially in rural areas long devastated by conflict.

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has been worsened by drought, economic sanctions, and the forced return of millions of refugees from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.

Humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations, have repeatedly warned that hunger and displacement are rising, urging for renewed international assistance.