Kabul, Nov 3 (UNI) As many as 20 people were killed and over 320 were injured after a powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan early today.
The quake occurred around 12:59 am local time at a depth of 28 kilometers (17 miles), with its epicenter located about 22 kilometers (14 miles) west-southwest of Khulm, near the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Afghanistan’s Health Ministry confirmed that hospitals in Mazar-e Sharif and surrounding areas received hundreds of injured people, while rescue teams were dispatched to affected districts.
Earlier reports from local media had placed the death toll at 10, but officials later updated the figures as more information came in from remote areas.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) also registered the tremor at a magnitude of 6.3.
This latest quake comes less than two months after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, killing over 2,200 people. A series of tremors in October 2023 claimed more than 4,000 lives, underscoring the country’s vulnerability to seismic activity.
Afghanistan, particularly the mountainous Hindu Kush region, is prone to frequent and deadly earthquakes as it lies at the convergence of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
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