Quake kills at least 20, over 300 injured: health ministry

A strong earthquake killed at least 20 people in northern Afghanistan, authorities said yesterday, just months after another deadly tremor that left the country reeling.

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The 6.3-magnitude quake struck overnight at a depth of 28 kilometres with the epicentre near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the US Geological Survey.

More than 20 people were killed and about 320 were injured in the provinces of Balkh and Samangan, health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman told journalists yesterday morning, stressing that this was a preliminary toll.

He did not provide a province-wide breakdown of the casualties.

Residents of Mazar-i-Sharif, one of Afghanistan’s largest northern cities, scrambled into the streets due to fears their homes would collapse, an AFP correspondent observed.

The city’s famed Blue Mosque, a 15th-century landmark known for its vibrant tiles, was also damaged, an AFP journalist witnessed.