KABUL: A powerful earthquake struck northern Afghanistan near Mazar-e Sharif, one of the country’s largest cities, around 20:30 GMT (01:00 local time), late Monday night.

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the quake measured 6.3 in magnitude and occurred at a depth of 28 kilometers (17 miles).

The agency warned of “significant casualties” and a “potentially widespread” disaster, though no fatalities have been confirmed so far.

Local authorities have not reported any casualties.

However, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) around 02:00 local time (21:30 GMT), the Taliban spokesman in Balkh province — 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,” the spokesman wrote, adding that there appeared to be “no significant problems so far.”

Mazar-e Sharif, home to over 500,000 residents, witnessed panic as people fled their homes into the streets fearing their buildings would collapse.

The quake comes just weeks after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern region in late August, killing more than 1,000 people.

Afghanistan remains highly prone to earthquakes due to its position on several fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide.