Seven dead, 150 injured in Afghanistan quake

KABUL (Agencies) - Seven people were killed and 150 injured after an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck near one of Afghanistan's largest cities Mazar-e Sharif early on Monday, the local health directorate said on Monday.

Preliminary reports suggest the earthquake struck at a depth of 28 kilometers (17.4 miles) near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif – the capital of Balkh province and one of the most populated cities in northern Afghanistan – and the town of Khulm in the early hours of Monday morning local time.

At least seven people have so far been confirmed dead, according to Haji Zaid, the spokesman for the governor of Balkh. “We have suffered financial and human losses, many people have been injured, and reports so far confirm the death of four people,” he said.

USGS models estimate the shaking could result in hundreds of fatalities.

“Several provinces of the country were once again shaken by a strong earthquake at around 1 a.m. (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday),” the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement shared with CNN.

The earthquake was also felt in regions of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, three countries that border northern Afghanistan, USGS reported.

The earthquake caused severe damage to the Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, Zaid said. Social media footage geolocated by CNN shows debris scattered on the ground outside the mosque.

An orange alert was issued by the USGS PAGER system, which predicts economic and human loss after earthquakes.

“Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,” it said.

One resident of Mazar-i-Sharif told CNN that her family “woke up terrified” after the quake struck, saying that her children ran “down the stairs screaming” when it occurred.

“I had never experienced such a strong earthquake in my life,” Rahima, a former school teacher, said, adding that it broke some of her windows and damaged the plaster on some of her walls.

“I am happy that my house is made of concrete in the city,” she told CNN. “I don’t know if houses made of mud have survived this earthquake in the outskirts of the city.”

Back in August, at least 2,200 people were killed and thousands more were injured after a 6.0-magnitude quake caused widespread damage along a mountainous stretch of provinces in eastern Afghanistan.

The region was hit by at least five aftershocks, the strongest measuring 5.2 magnitude in the hours after the initial quake, according to USGS.

In October 2023, another 6.3-magnitude earthquake took place in western Afghanistan, killing more than 2,000.