Magnitude 6.3 quake hits northern Afghanistan

A 6.3-magnitude quake struck northern Afghanistan overnight, shaking homes near Mazar-i-Sharif. Photo / Getty Images

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan overnight Sunday into Monday, the US Geological Survey said, two months after a tremor in the impoverished nation’s east killed over 2200 people.

The overnight quake hit at a depth of 28 kilometres in Kholm, near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the US Geological Survey.

It was felt by AFP correspondents in the capital Kabul.

Local authorities broadcast emergency telephone numbers for people to call, but did not immediately report any deaths or injuries.

In Mazar-i-Sharif, many people ran into the street in the middle of the night, fearing their homes might collapse, an AFP correspondent observed.

The Taliban authorities have had to deal with several major quakes since returning to power in 2021, including one in 2023 in the western Herat region on the border with Iran that killed more than 1500 people and destroyed more than 63,000 homes.

A shallow 6.0-magnitude quake struck this year on August 31 in the country’s east, killing more than 2200 people – the deadliest tremor in recent Afghan history.

Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.

Afghanistan is contending with multiple crises after decades of war: endemic poverty, severe drought and the influx of millions of Afghans forced back home by neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.

Many modest Afghan homes are shoddily built and poor infrastructure hampers rescue efforts after natural disasters like quakes.

Since 1900, northeastern Afghanistan has been hit by 12 quakes with a magnitude above 7, according to Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey.

– Agence France-Presse