KABUL (Kashmir English): A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit northern Afghanistan near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing at least seven people and injuring 150 others, according to local officials.
The quake hit at 12:59 am on Monday (20:29 GMT) at a depth of 28km (17 miles) near Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health in Samangan, a mountainous northern province close to Mazar-i-Sharif, Samim Joyanda, told the Reuters news agency that “a total of 150 people injured and seven martyred [dead] have been reported and transferred to health centres as of this morning”.
The toll was based on hospital reports collected as of Monday morning, he said.
The USGS issued an orange alert in its PAGER system, an automated system that produces information on the impact of earthquakes, indicating that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.”
Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response, the system’s alert added.
Afghanistan’s national disaster management agency said it would share reports on casualties and damage later.
The earthquake also destroyed part of the holy shrine of Mazar-i-Sharif, said Balkh province spokesperson Haji Zaid, referring to the Blue Mosque. In Mazar-i-Sharif, a city of about 523,000 people, many residents ran into the street in the middle of the night, fearing that their homes might collapse, said an AFP correspondent.
