Casualties after magnitude 6.3 quake hits northern Afghanistan

Casualties were reported after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan early on Monday, the US Geological Survey said, just months after another deadly tremor left the country reeling as it contends with a series of humanitarian crises.

The latest quake hit in the early hours of the morning at a depth of 28 kilometres (17 miles) with the epicentre near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the USGS.

An initial toll showed seven people were killed and 150 injured, the local health directorate said.

Poor communication networks and infrastructure have in the past hampered disaster response in the mountainous country, preventing authorities from reaching far-flung villages to assess the extent of damage for hours or even days.

The quake sent residents of Mazar-i-Sharif, one of Afghanistan's largest northern cities, running into the streets due to fears their homes would collapse, an AFP correspondent observed, and shaking was felt around 420 kilometres (260 miles) south by correspondents in the capital Kabul.

It is the latest natural disaster for the Taliban government, which has faced three major deadly earthquakes since taking over the country in 2021 even as the foreign aid that formed the backbone of the country's economy dramatically dropped.

In August, a shallow 6.0-magnitude quake in the country's east wiped out mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people.

Large tremors in western Herat, near the Iranian border, in 2023, and in eastern Nangarhar province in 2022 killed hundreds and destroyed thousands of homes.

The United Nations and aid agencies have warned hunger is rising in the Afghan population and the isolated country is suffering from a humanitarian crisis compounded by drought, economic restrictions on the banking sector, and the pushback of millions of Afghan citizens from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.

Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.

Many homes in the predominantly rural country, devastated by decades of war, are shoddily built and it often takes hours or even days to travel by steep roads and paths to remote villages, which are often cut off from help during disasters or poor weather.