Casualties feared after magnitude-6.3 earthquake hits Afghanistan

An earthquake has struck northern Afghanistan near Mazar-e Sharif, one of the country's largest cities around 20:30 GMT (01:00 local time).

The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3 and a depth of 28km (17 miles), according to the US Geological Survey.

The agency also warned of "significant casualties" and "potentially widespread" disaster.

Local authorities have not reported any casualties.

Writing in a post on X around 02:00 local time (21:30 GMT), the Taliban spokesman in Balkh, of which Mazar-e Sharif is the capital, said they had received "reports of minor injuries and superficial damages from all districts of the province".

"Most of the injuries were caused by people falling from tall buildings," he wrote.

However, he added that there appeared to be "no significant problems so far".

Mazar-e Sharif is home to more than 500,000 people. Many of the city's residents rushed to the streets when the quake struck, as they feared their houses would collapse, AFP reported.

The quake on Monday comes after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's mountainous eastern region in late August, killing more than 1,000 people.

Afghanistan is very prone to earthquakes because of its location on top of a number of fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.