Daijiworld Media Network - Kabul

Kabul, Nov 3: At least eight people have died and nearly 200 others injured after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan early Monday, officials reported.

Qari Lutfullah Habibi, head of the Public Health Department in Samangan province, said that in the provincial capital Aybak, one person was killed and over 100 were injured. In Hazrat Sultan district, one death and 15 injuries were reported. Meanwhile, Balkh province’s Khulm district recorded six fatalities and more than 70 injuries.

Rescue teams are still assessing damage in remote areas, and authorities warned the casualty toll could rise as communications are restored. Medical and emergency personnel have been deployed, but local hospitals are struggling to cope with the surge of injured patients, according to news reports.

Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain and fragile infrastructure make it highly vulnerable to deadly earthquakes. The country sits along the collision zone of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, with influence from the Arabian plate, making it one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) issued an orange alert via its PAGER system, warning that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.” The quake struck at a depth of 28 km (17.4 miles) near Mazar-e Sharif, a city of around 523,000 people.

Videos and images circulating on social media show collapsed buildings, scattered debris, and ongoing rescue operations to free those trapped under rubble.

This is not Afghanistan’s first recent quake. On September 23, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Afghanistan at a shallow depth of 10 km. Since the Taliban took power in 2021, the country has experienced several devastating quakes, including a 2023 earthquake in Herat that killed over 1,500 people and destroyed more than 63,000 homes.

Seismologist Brian Baptie of the British Geological Survey notes that northeastern Afghanistan has recorded 12 earthquakes above magnitude 7 since 1900, with over 355 quakes exceeding magnitude 5 across the country since 1990.

The Taliban government faces ongoing challenges in disaster response due to limited resources and humanitarian crises, making relief efforts for affected communities particularly difficult.