Powerful earthquake hits Afghanistan killing 7, over 100 injured

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan near Mazar-e Sharif on Monday, killing at least seven people and injuring over 100. The USGS warned of significant casualties as rescue efforts continue amid widespread damage in quake-hit areas.

Kabul: A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 jolted northern Afghanistan early on Monday morning, causing at least seven people dead and over 100 injured, according to media reports.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) issued an orange alert through its PAGER system—an automated tool that assesses the potential impact of earthquakes—warning that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.”

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The quake struck at a depth of 28 km (17.4 miles) near Mazar-e Sharif, a city of about 523,000 people, according to the USGS.

Videos showing rescue operations to free people trapped under rubble, along with images of collapsed buildings and scattered debris, circulated widely on the social media platform X.

Earlier on September 23, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake had struck southeastern Afghanistan, according to the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. The quake’s epicentre was pinpointed at a shallow depth of 10 km, with coordinates at 34.48 degrees north latitude and 70.71 degrees east longitude.

Since taking power in 2021, the Taliban government has faced several devastating earthquakes, including one in 2023 in the western Herat region near the Iranian border that killed over 1,500 people and destroyed more than 63,000 homes.

Another major quake—a shallow magnitude 6 tremor—struck the country’s east on August 31 this year, killing more than 2,200 people, making it the deadliest in recent Afghan history.

Afghanistan lies along the collision zone between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, with additional influence from the Arabian plate to the south—making it one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

The country is simultaneously grappling with multiple crises after decades of war, including widespread poverty, severe drought, and the forced return of millions of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran.

According to seismologist Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey, northeastern Afghanistan has experienced 12 earthquakes above magnitude 7 since 1900. Studies further show that more than 355 quakes exceeding magnitude 5.0 have occurred across the country since 1990.

Eastern and northeastern Afghanistan—particularly areas bordering Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan—remain the most earthquake-prone regions.