KABUL: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif early on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 260, provincial authorities said on Monday.
The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at a depth of 28 km (17.4 miles) near Mazar-i-Sharif, which has a population of about 523,000.
The Afghan Taliban defence ministry said parts of Balkh and Samangan provinces were the most affected, resulting in fatalities among a number of citizens.
According to Qari Lutfullah Habibi, head of the Samangan provincial health department, the earthquake struck various parts of the province at around 1 a.m. last night, causing casualties and property damage.
He said that initial reports indicate at least ten people were killed and more than 250 were injured. “One person was killed and more than 100 were injured in the city of Aibak, six people lost their lives and over 70 were injured in Khulm district, while one person was killed and 15 others were injured in Hazrat Sultan district, he said, and added that the rescue operation was ongoing with a fear of an increase in the death toll.
Reuters. News agency earlier reported that a total of 150 people were injured and seven martyred, quoting Samim Joyanda, the spokesperson for the health department in Samangan, a mountainous northern province near Mazar-i-Sharif.
A powerful earthquake struck northern Afghanistan in the middle of the night, causing houses to collapse while residents were deeply asleep, resulting in numerous fatalities. pic.twitter.com/t4x6dNmwdQ
— Nilofar Ayoubi 🇦🇫 (@NilofarAyoubi) November 2, 2025
The toll was based on hospital reports collected as of Monday morning, he said.
The USGS issued an orange alert in its PAGER system, which is an automated system that produces information on the impact of earthquakes, and indicated that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread”.
Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response, the system’s alert added, reports Reuters.
The earthquake destroyed part of the holy shrine of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province spokesperson Haji Zaid said, referring to the Blue Mosque.
The country’s national disaster management agency said reports on casualties and damage would be shared later. Reuters could not immediately verify the extent of damage from the earthquake.
Videos of rescue efforts being carried out to save people trapped under rubble and images of fallen debris in buildings were shared on the social media platform X. One video showed rescuers pulling what appeared to be dead bodies from rubble.
Reuters could not immediately verify the footage and the images.
Thousands died and thousands more were injured after an earthquake and a series of aftershocks hit Afghanistan in August, the Taliban administration said.
Afghanistan is especially vulnerable to earthquakes as the country is located on two major active faults that have the potential to rupture and cause extensive damage.
In 2015, an earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan, killing several hundred people in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Another in 2023 killed at least 1,000 people.
