Afghanistan Earthquake Kills at Least 20, Hundreds Injured Near Mazar-i-Sharif
A powerful magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan early Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 320, according to the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health, according to Al Jazeera News. The quake, centered near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province, hit just before 1 a.m. local time, shaking homes and sending terrified residents into the streets.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported the tremor occurred at a depth of about 28 kilometers (17 miles). Its orange-level PAGER alert warned that “significant casualties are likely” and that the disaster could have a widespread regional impact.
Authorities said the death toll remains preliminary as search and rescue efforts continue in rural areas where communication is limited and infrastructure fragile. Officials confirmed that parts of Mazar-i-Sharif’s famed Blue Mosque, one of Afghanistan’s holiest sites, were damaged.
The earthquake is the latest in a devastating series of natural disasters to strike Afghanistan in recent years. In August 2025, a 6.0-magnitude quake in the country’s east killed more than 2,200 people, while a series of powerful tremors in Herat Province in 2023 and Nangarhar in 2022 left hundreds dead and thousands homeless.
Decades of war, poverty, and weak governance have left Afghanistan dangerously exposed to such disasters. Many rural homes are built of mud and stone, offering little resistance to seismic shocks. The withdrawal of most international aid since the Taliban takeover in 2021 has further hampered the government’s ability to respond to emergencies.
Afghanistan sits atop the collision zone of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, making it one of the most seismically active regions in Asia. Since 1900, at least a dozen earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher have struck the country’s northeast, according to the British Geological Survey.
