Deadly Afghanistan Quake Hits, Blue Mosque In Ruins

By Staff, Agencies

A strong earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, leaving over a dozen dead, hundreds injured, and severely damaging one of the nation’s most stunning mosques.

Families were jolted awake in the early hours of Monday when the 6.3 magnitude quake struck near Mazar-i-Sharif, one of the most populated cities in the north of the country, at a shallow depth of 28 kilometers [17.4 miles], the United States Geological Survey said.

A massive rescue operation is underway in northern Afghanistan, where a girl was pulled alive from the rubble and taken to hospital in critical condition.

Mazar-i-Sharif’s iconic Blue Mosque was damaged in the quake, footage on social media geolocated by CNN revealed, with its base littered with rubble - early evidence of the destruction captured in the shadows before dawn.

The site is one of Afghanistan’s architectural treasures and a major point of pilgrimage, believed by some to be the resting place of Hazrat Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam and the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad.

Residents in at least nine provinces, including Kabul, lost power after electricity lines from Uzbekistan – a major supplier of power to Afghanistan – were severed.

The state-run energy company DABS company also reported cut lines from Tajikistan to Kunduz province, plunging the area into total blackout. Teams are “working urgently to restore both routes,” it added.

Officials report at least 20 dead and nearly 600 injured in Samangan and Balkh provinces after a 1 a.m. quake centered in Samangan, affecting northern, eastern, and western regions.

The United Nations confirmed it has teams on the ground “to assess needs and deliver urgent aid.”

Afghanistan, prone to deadly earthquakes, faces hundreds of potential fatalities from the latest quake, with limited disaster response due to scarce international aid and reports of widespread property damage.

One resident of Mazar-i-Sharif told CNN that her family “woke up terrified” after the quake struck, saying that her children ran “down the stairs screaming” when it occurred.

“I had never experienced such a strong earthquake in my life,” Rahima, a former school teacher, 50, said, adding that it broke some of her windows and damaged the plaster on some of her walls.

“I am happy that my house is made of concrete in the city,” she told CNN. “I don’t know if houses made of mud have survived this earthquake in the outskirts of the city.”

The quake also blocked the Tashqurghan passage, a critical route from the capital of Kabul towards neighboring Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but rescue teams have since cleared the route, the Ministry of Defense said.

The earthquake was felt in regions of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, three countries that border northern Afghanistan, USGS reported.

Afghanistan has faced repeated deadly quakes, including a 6.0-magnitude tremor in August killing 2,200 and a 6.3-magnitude quake in October 2023 that killed over 2,000, with multiple strong aftershocks compounding the devastation.