Afghanistan Quake Kills 20, Injures Over 300

AFP/APP
Mazar-i-Sharif: A powerful earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck northern Afghanistan overnight, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 300 others, according to the country’s health ministry.

The tremor — the latest in a string of deadly quakes to hit the war-torn nation — caused significant damage in the provinces of Balkh and Samangan and was felt as far away as Kabul.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the quake struck at a depth of 28 kilometers (17 miles), with its epicenter near the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Residents described scenes of panic as families fled their homes in the middle of the night, fearing buildings would collapse.

Health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said the death toll was preliminary and likely to rise as rescue operations continued in remote and mountainous areas. Communication breakdowns and poor infrastructure have made it difficult for emergency teams to assess the full scale of the destruction.

Among the damaged structures was Mazar-i-Sharif’s famed Blue Mosque, a centuries-old architectural marvel and one of Afghanistan’s most iconic landmarks. Reporters at the site said that pieces of one of its minarets had broken off and scattered across the courtyard.

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In Kabul, around 420 kilometers to the south, residents also reported feeling the tremors, though no major damage was immediately reported there.

The disaster adds to the growing list of humanitarian crises facing the Taliban government, which has struggled to respond to a series of devastating natural disasters since seizing power in 2021.

In August this year, a 6.0-magnitude quake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people and flattened entire mountainside villages. Another major quake in Herat province in 2023 claimed over 1,500 lives and destroyed more than 63,000 homes.

Afghanistan sits along several active fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, making it one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Since 1900, northeastern Afghanistan has experienced at least a dozen earthquakes exceeding magnitude 7.

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have warned that hunger, poverty, and displacement are already on the rise across the country. The situation is being worsened by the mass return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran, combined with limited international aid.

As rescue teams race against time to reach affected areas, the latest quake serves as yet another reminder of Afghanistan’s vulnerability — a nation battered not only by decades of war and economic collapse but now also by the unrelenting force of nature.