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Strong 6.3 earthquake strikes northern Afghanistan; felt across Pakistan

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Epicenter of the earthquake in northern Afghanistan (Credit: Google)

A strong magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck northern Afghanistan and was felt across Pakistan, India, and other nearby countries, according to preliminary reports.

The earthquake occurred at 1:29 a.m. local time on Monday and had its epicenter in Afghanistan near the borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, according to seismologists at the U.S Geological Survey (USGS).

According to the USGS, the epicenter was located about 23 kilometers (14 miles) south of Khulm, Afghanistan, and 51 kilometers (32 miles) east-southeast of Mazār-e Sharīf, Afghanistan. The earthquake was shallow, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Reports on social media indicate the quake was felt as far as Kabul in Afghanistan, Mashhad in Iran, Islamabad in Pakistan, and areas near the Pakistan–India border.

“Omg the most scary and dangerous earthquake I ever seen in my life,” user Fazal Afghan said in a post on X.

Damage has been reported in Mazār-e Sharīf, a city of more than 300,000 people near the epicenter. An image shared on social media showed large cracks and debris inside a home, while others described feeling “violent” shaking in the city.

Afghanistan is prone to frequent and sometimes destructive earthquakes due to its location near the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Quakes in this region are commonly felt across a wide area.

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