Northern Afghanistan was rocked by a devastating earthquake early Monday, resulting in at least 15 fatalities, hundreds of injuries, and significant damage to one of the country’s most cherished historical sites. This latest natural disaster further exacerbates the challenges faced by an already struggling nation.
The potent 6.3-magnitude tremor hit just before 1 a.m., with its epicenter located near Mazar-i-Sharif, a city of approximately 500,000 residents famed for its stunning 15th-century Blue Mosque. Local authorities reported that the earthquake caused extensive damage to the mosque, crumbling tiles, portions of its walls, and precious historical inscriptions. Footage from the scene depicted widespread debris scattered across the sacred grounds.
This recent earthquake piles additional hardship onto Afghanistan, a nation already contending with severe aid reductions, the forced return of over two million citizens from neighboring countries this year, and the lingering effects of an eastern earthquake in August that claimed at least 2,200 lives.
Recent weeks have also seen a surge in tensions with neighboring Pakistan, marked by cross-border gunfire exchanges and Pakistani military airstrikes targeting Kabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan’s two largest urban centers.
Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Afghan Health Ministry, confirmed that at least 15 individuals perished, and 320 others suffered injuries requiring hospitalization. By Monday afternoon, roughly 20 of the wounded were receiving care at Mazar-i-Sharif’s regional hospital, many with significant bandaging or bloodied heads. One farmer, Nakarulden, recounted how a falling boulder struck his vehicle while he and other agricultural workers were returning to Mazar-i-Sharif from rice fields, killing three men in his group.
While the Afghan Ministry of Defense acknowledged fatalities and injuries in a public statement, specific numbers were not disclosed.
Positioned at the meeting point of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, Afghanistan is highly susceptible to seismic activity. The previous earthquake in August not only leveled remote mountain villages but also inflicted an estimated $183 million in damages, according to the World Bank, representing roughly one percent of Afghanistan’s entire gross domestic product.
Another earlier earthquake in northern Afghanistan in 2023 tragically claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 people, as reported by official sources.
Four years having passed since the Taliban’s resurgence, over half of Afghanistan’s 42 million inhabitants were already in dire need of humanitarian aid. The nation, largely isolated from the global community apart from its immediate neighbors, has been further overwhelmed by the recent influx of more than two million Afghans. These individuals were either forcibly deported or compelled to leave Iran and Pakistan due to increasing xenophobia and heightened governmental tensions.
A significant reduction in foreign aid this year, initiated by the Trump administration and various European nations, has led to the closure of hundreds of essential healthcare facilities across the country.
The recent tremor impacted northern provinces like Samangan and Balkh, situated near Uzbekistan’s border. In Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh, residents spent Monday clearing rubble from the revered Blue Mosque. This historic mosque, a significant shrine for a key figure in Shiite Islam, serves as both a major pilgrimage destination and a vibrant center for Nowruz, the Persian New Year festivities.