23 dead, 670 injured in Balkh-Samangan earthquake

KABUL (Pajhwok): At least 23 people have died and over 670 others injured, while hundreds of residential houses have been partially or completely destroyed in a powerful earthquake that struck northern Balkh and Samangan provinces, sources said on Monday.

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit around 1:00 a.m. (Afghanistan time) on Sunday night, with its epicenter in Khulm district of Balkh province and was also felt in Kabul, Baghlan, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul and Kunduz provinces.

Officials from the Samangan Department of Public Health reported that 11 people have died and 270 others have been injured in different parts of the province.

Samim Joyenda, spokesman for the Samangan Department of Public Health, told Pajhwok that the injured include men, women and children, most of whom were hurt when the roofs of residential houses collapsed.

He added that medical teams, in full coordination with other relief organizations, are providing emergency medical services to the injured. Ambulances, medicine, equipment and medical personnel have been deployed to the necessary centers, and assistance efforts are ongoing.

Meanwhile, the Balkh governor’s office said in a statement that the province experienced a 6.3-magnitude earthquake around 1:00 a.m., causing extensive human and financial losses.

According to the statement, around 12 people have died and nearly 400 others have been injured in Balkh.

Teams from the Ministry of Public Health and the Afghan Red Crescent Society are actively working to evacuate and treat the wounded.

The statement also noted that a large number of buildings and houses in Mazar-i-Sharif city — particularly around the Shrine of Hazrat Ali (Rawza-i-Sharif) and in various districts of Balkh province — have been damaged or completely destroyed.

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