A strong earthquake killed at least 20 people in northern Afghanistan, authorities said Monday, just months after another deadly tremor that left the country reeling.
The 6.3-magnitude quake struck overnight at a depth of 28 kilometres (17 miles) with the epicentre near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the US Geological Survey.
“Based on the information we have so far, 534 people have been injured and more than 20 fatalities have been taken to hospitals in Samangan and Balkh provinces,” health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman told journalists.
In Mazar-i-Sharif, one of Afghanistan’s largest northern cities, an AFP correspondent saw residents scrambling out into the streets.
The city’s famed Blue Mosque, a 15th-century landmark known for its vibrant tiles, was also damaged.
Pieces of the structure, particularly from one of its minarets, broke off and lay scattered across the mosque’s grounds, one of the country’s few remaining tourist spots.
Correspondents in the capital Kabul, around 420 kilometres by road to the south, also said they felt shaking.
Poor communication networks and infrastructure in mountainous Afghanistan have hampered disaster responses in the past, preventing authorities for hours or even days from reaching far-flung villages to assess the extent of the damage.