Kabul (AP): A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook northern Afghanistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 640 others, as well as damaging the historic Blue Mosque, officials said.
The numbers of people killed or injured could rise, officials said.
In the town of Khulm, near the epicentre, people dug through the rubble of collapsed mud brick homes with shovels and picked through debris to salvage what belongings they could.
Local resident Ahmad Zia said the air was polluted from all the dust that rose from the ruins of houses. “We pulled the bodies of two people from the rubble, and their funerals will be held today,” he said.
Footage on social media from Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province, showed several bricks had fallen from the walls of the Blue Mosque but the structure remained intact. The centuries-old site, one of Afghanistan's most revered religious landmarks, is a major gathering place during Islamic and cultural festivals.
The impoverished country often faces difficulty in responding to such natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Buildings tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood, many poorly built.
In August, a quake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people.
Hundreds of houses destroyed
The US Geological Survey said the quake's epicentre was located 22 kilometres west-southwest of the town of Khulm, and that it struck at 12:59 am at a depth of 28 kilometres.
The deputy spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, Qari Taj Mohammad Hemat, said the earthquake had struck Balkh, Samangan, Sar-e-Pul, and Kunduz provinces and had left 20 people dead and 643 others injured, of whom 25 were in critical condition.
Earlier, Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, said the dead and more than 500 of the injured had been brought to hospitals in Balkh and Samangan provinces. Rescuers were on the scene and the figures were changing, he added.
In the nearby province of Badakhshan, the quake partially or completely destroyed 800 houses in one village in the Shahr-e-Bozorg district, said Ihsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the provincial police headquarters. But with a lack of internet in the remote area, there were still no accurate casualty figures, he added.
Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan's disaster management agency, said most of the injured suffered minor wounds and were discharged after treatment.
Another resident of Khulm, Abdul Mubin, said he had been sleeping in his shop when the earthquake struck. “I saw that everything was destroyed. People had suffered a lot of financial losses,” he said. “Many people's houses were destroyed and their household goods were under the rubble.”
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Powerful 6.3 earthquake hits northern Afghanistan, killing 20, damaging historic Blue Mosque
AFGHAN-6THLD QUAKE
08:38 PM, 03 Nov 2025 819 Words
(Eds: Eds: UPDATES: Updates Media. EDITS: Restores line about possible increase in casualties.)
By By ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN and SIDDIQULLAH ALIZAI
Kabul (AP): A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook northern Afghanistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 640 others, as well as damaging the historic Blue Mosque, officials said.
The numbers of people killed or injured could rise, officials said.
In the town of Khulm, near the epicentre, people dug through the rubble of collapsed mud brick homes with shovels and picked through debris to salvage what belongings they could.
Local resident Ahmad Zia said the air was polluted from all the dust that rose from the ruins of houses. “We pulled the bodies of two people from the rubble, and their funerals will be held today,” he said.
Footage on social media from Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province, showed several bricks had fallen from the walls of the Blue Mosque but the structure remained intact. The centuries-old site, one of Afghanistan's most revered religious landmarks, is a major gathering place during Islamic and cultural festivals.
The impoverished country often faces difficulty in responding to such natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Buildings tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood, many poorly built.
In August, a quake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people.
Hundreds of houses destroyed
The US Geological Survey said the quake's epicentre was located 22 kilometres west-southwest of the town of Khulm, and that it struck at 12:59 am at a depth of 28 kilometres.
The deputy spokesman for Afghanistan's National Disaster Management Authority, Qari Taj Mohammad Hemat, said the earthquake had struck Balkh, Samangan, Sar-e-Pul, and Kunduz provinces and had left 20 people dead and 643 others injured, of whom 25 were in critical condition.
Earlier, Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, said the dead and more than 500 of the injured had been brought to hospitals in Balkh and Samangan provinces. Rescuers were on the scene and the figures were changing, he added.
In the nearby province of Badakhshan, the quake partially or completely destroyed 800 houses in one village in the Shahr-e-Bozorg district, said Ihsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the provincial police headquarters. But with a lack of internet in the remote area, there were still no accurate casualty figures, he added.
Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan's disaster management agency, said most of the injured suffered minor wounds and were discharged after treatment.
Another resident of Khulm, Abdul Mubin, said he had been sleeping in his shop when the earthquake struck. “I saw that everything was destroyed. People had suffered a lot of financial losses,” he said. “Many people's houses were destroyed and their household goods were under the rubble.”
Rockslide briefly blocks highway
The Ministry of Defence announced that rescue and emergency teams had reached the quake areas in Balkh and Samangan, which suffered the most damage. The teams were transporting the injured and assisting others, it said.
The Taliban government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, posted on X that government organisations were working to get the help needed.
The quake was also felt in the capital, Kabul, and several other provinces. The Defense Ministry said a rockslide briefly blocked a main mountain highway linking Kabul with Mazar-e-Sharif, but the road was later reopened. It said some people who were injured and trapped along the highway were transported to the hospital.
In Islamabad, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his deep sorrow and grief over the loss of lives. In a statement, he offered condolences to the families of the victims, prayed for the swift recovery of the injured, and said that Pakistan stands with the Afghan people in this difficult time.
His statement came as the two countries were engaged in rounds of peace talks amid heightened tension after deadly clashes on the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan left dozens of soldiers and civilians dead on both sides. Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of sheltering members of the Pakistani Taliban and failing to curb cross-border attacks. Afghan officials reject the allegations, saying they seek good relations. Another round of peace talks is scheduled for this week in Istanbul, Turkiye.
The United Nations in Afghanistan said on X that its teams were on the ground assessing needs and delivering urgent aid.
“We stand with the affected communities and will provide the necessary support,” the post said.
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan on August 31 near the border with Pakistan, killing more than 2,200 people. On October 7, 2023, a magnitude 6.3 quake followed by strong aftershocks left at least 4,000 people dead, according to the Taliban government.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
