Around 20 people have been killed in the provinces of Balkh and Samangan, a spokesman for the Taliban's health ministry said. More than 530 people have also been injured.
The magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck at a depth of 28 kilometers in the mountains a few miles from the city of Kholm, according to the US Geological Survey. Kholm is not far from the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, where the famous 15th-century Blue Mosque, considered one of the most important Shia Muslim shrines, was reportedly damaged.
The quake was also reportedly felt in the capital Kabul, about 420 kilometers to the south.
Afghanistan is regularly hit by deadly earthquakes, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet. In late August, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake killed more than 2,200 people in eastern Afghanistan.
The country is already suffering from a humanitarian crisis due to drought, an increased influx of Afghans forced to return from neighboring countries, and an economy that has been in free fall since the Taliban took power in 2021. Many houses in the countryside – devastated by decades of war – are poorly built and are therefore particularly hard hit by earthquakes.
