At least 20 people have died after an earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, say local authorities, with the toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.
Hundreds have also been left injured, local officials told the BBC.
The earthquake struck near Mazar-e-Sharif, one of the largest cities in Afghanistan, home to around 500,000 people, in the early hours of Monday, at around 01:00 local time (20:30 GMT on Sunday).
It had a magnitude of 6.3 and a depth of 28km (17 miles), according to the US Geological Survey, and was marked at an orange alert level, which indicates “significant casualties” are likely.
Sharafat Zaman Amar, spokesperson for the Taliban government health ministry, said that more than 20 people have been killed and more than 320 injured.
Provincial officials earlier told the BBC that casualties were likely to rise as rescue efforts continued.
Haji Zaid, a Taliban spokesman in Balkh province wrote earlier on X that “many people are injured” in the Sholgara district, south of Mazar-e- Sharif.
He said they had received “reports of minor injuries and superficial damages from all districts of the province”.
“Most of the injuries were caused by people falling from tall buildings,” he wrote.
Mazar-e Sharif is home to more than 500,000 people. Many of the city’s residents rushed to the streets when the quake struck, as they feared their houses would collapse, AFP news agency reported.
The Taliban spokesman in Balkh also posted a video on X appearing to show debris strewn across the ground at the Blue Mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, revered by Shia Muslims.
The religious complex is believed to house the tomb of the first Shia Imam – a religious leader believed to hold divine knowledge. It’s now a site where pilgrims gather to pray and celebrate religious events.
Khalid Zadran, a Taliban spokesman for the police in Kabul, wrote on X that police teams were “closely monitoring the situation”.
Numerous fatalities were also reported in Samangan, a mountainous province near Mazar-e-Sharif, according to its spokesman.
The quake on Monday comes after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern region in late August, killing more than 1,000 people.
That earthquake was especially deadly as the rural houses in the region were typically made of mud and timber. Residents were trapped when their houses collapsed during the quake.
Afghanistan is very prone to earthquakes because of its location on top of a number of fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
