At least 27 people were killed and hundreds injured after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan late Sunday night, causing widespread damage and power outages across several provinces.
According to officials, the quake hit around 1 a.m. local time (2030 GMT Sunday), shaking the provinces of Balkh, Samangan, Sar-e-Pul, Baghlan, and Kunduz.
The Afghan state news agency Bakhtar reported that more than 730 people were injured, with most casualties coming from Samangan and Balkh — the worst affected regions.
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The earthquake also caused severe financial losses, destroying homes and damaging infrastructure. The Afghan Red Crescent Society confirmed “significant human casualties and heavy property losses,” as search and rescue teams continued efforts to locate survivors trapped under debris.
Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh, reported multiple deaths and injuries, along with damage to several buildings.
The historic Rawza Mubarak shrine, one of Afghanistan’s most visited religious sites, also sustained structural damage.
Officials said around 800 houses were partially destroyed in Chogani village of Badakhshan province’s Shahr-e-Bozorg district.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the quake’s epicenter was near Mazar-e-Sharif at a depth of 28 kilometers (17.4 miles).
Hospitals across the affected provinces have been placed on high alert to treat the injured, while the Defense Ministry confirmed that army personnel were clearing blocked roads caused by landslides.
The tremor also disrupted electricity supplies from neighboring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, leaving several Afghan provinces in darkness. The national power utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), said transmission lines between Naibabad and Samangan, and between Khulm and Pul-e-Khumri, were damaged.
“As a result of this outage, the provinces of Kabul, Baghlan, Parwan, Panjshir, Kapisa, Logar, Paktia, Ghazni, and Maidan Wardak lost imported electricity,” reported Tolo News. DABS technical teams worked through the night and later confirmed that power had been largely restored.
Afghanistan lies in a seismically active zone and has suffered repeated earthquakes in recent years. Since the Taliban took power in 2021, the country has been hit by at least eight major quakes. The most devastating one occurred in August this year, when a 6.0 magnitude quake in eastern Kunar province killed over 2,200 people and destroyed
hundreds of homes.
