A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan early Monday, killing at least 15 people and injuring around 320 others, according to initial figures from the country’s public health ministry.
Meanwhile, the health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said that casualty numbers could change as more information becomes available.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake hit the northern province of Balkh at a depth of 28 kilometres.
Footage aired by Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews showed debris scattered around the famous Blue Mosque in the provincial capital, Mazar-e-Sharif.
Afghanistan’s power utility company had reported that the last night’s earthquake damaged power pylons, leaving Kabul and several other provinces in the dark.
The company said that both pylons carrying imported electricity from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were cut off.
The tremor hit some two months after more than 2,000 people were killed by a devastating quake in the country’s east.
The provinces of Balkh, Baghlan and Samangan were among the worst hit, disaster management official Shafiullah Rahimi told journalists , adding that many residents fled their homes as the quake struck while they were asleep.
Rescue teams had been mobilised from Kabul and provincial headquarters to reach people possibly trapped under debris in mountainous areas, Rahimi said.
