Blue Mosque in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif Damaged in 6.3 Magnitude Quake
The powerful quake killed more than a dozen people and damaged one the country’s most beautiful mosques, local authorities said.
Families were jolted awake in the early hours of Monday when the 6.3 magnitude quake struck near Mazar-i-Sharif, one of the most populated cities in the north of the country, at a shallow depth of 28 kilometers (17.4 miles), the United States Geological Survey said.
A massive search and rescue operation is underway, with a child seen pulled alive from the rubble in video released by the Taliban ministry of defense on Monday morning. The girl was taken to hospital in a critical condition, a spokesperson for the 209 Al-Fath Army Corp told CNN.
Mazar-i-Sharif’s iconic Blue Mosque was damaged in the quake, footage on social media revealed, with its base littered with rubble - early evidence of the destruction captured in the shadows before dawn.
The site is one of Afghanistan’s architectural treasures and a major point of pilgrimage.
Afghan Red Crescent society put the early death toll at 19 with at least 320 people injured in the Samangan and Balkh provinces. The National Authority for Disaster Preparedness said the quake struck at around 1 a.m. local time, impacting parts of the north, east and west, with the epicenter located in Samangan province.
The United Nations confirmed it has teams on the ground “to assess needs and deliver urgent aid.”
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Afghanistan has endured a series of earthquake in recent years that have caused thousands of deaths and the USGS models estimate the shaking from this quake could result in hundreds of fatalities.
The impoverished country’s ability to respond to natural disasters has been further impeded by a shortage in international aid following the Taliban’s successful takeover in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US-led forces in 2021.
Damage to properties was also reported in the affected areas, the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said, with accounts of broken windows and structural damage to homes.
One resident of Mazar-i-Sharif said her family “woke up terrified” after the quake struck, saying that her children ran “down the stairs screaming” when it occurred.
“I had never experienced such a strong earthquake in my life,” Rahima, a former school teacher, 50, said, adding that it broke some of her windows and damaged the plaster on some of her walls.
Source: sg.news.yahoo.com
