Dozens killed, power disruptions across multiple provinces as quake rocks Afghanistan

A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif early on November 3, killing at least seven people and injuring around 150, provincial authorities stated.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the quake occurred at a depth of 28 km (17.4 miles) near the city, which is home to roughly 523,000 residents, Reuters reports.

“A total of 150 people injured and seven martyred have been reported and transferred to health centres as of this morning,” Samim Joyanda, spokesperson for the health department in Samangan Province, told Reuters. He added that these figures were based on hospital reports collected in the morning of November 3.

The USGS issued an orange alert in its PAGER system, which provides automated assessments of earthquake impacts, warning that “significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.” Historically, earthquakes triggering this alert level have necessitated a regional or national response.

The tremor also damaged part of the Blue Mosque, the holy shrine of Mazar-e Sharif, officials from Balkh Province confirmed. Afghanistan’s national disaster management agency said that further reports on casualties and structural damage would be released later.

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the state-run electricity utility, reported that two key supply lines from Uzbekistan were severed — one between Naibabad and Samangan Province, and another between Khulm district and the city of Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan Province.

As a result, major population centers — including Kabul, Baghlan, Parwan, Panjshir, Kapisa, Logar, Paktia, Ghazni and Maidan Wardak — have been left without power, the company said in a statement.

In addition, a separate transmission line from Tajikistan to Kunduz Province was also damaged, disrupting service to areas dependent on Tajik electricity, according to the statement.

DABS said its technical teams have been deployed to the affected regions and are working to restore the electricity supply, but did not provide a timeline for full recovery.

Afghanistan imports more than 70 percent of its electricity from neighboring countries, particularly Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, due to its underdeveloped domestic generation capacity. Even under normal conditions, large parts of the country experience regular power shortages.

Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, sitting atop two major active fault lines capable of causing severe destruction. In recent years, the country has suffered deadly tremors: in 2015, an earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan killed several hundred people across Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, and a 2023 quake claimed at least 1,000 lives.

By Vafa Guliyeva