At least 20 people have been killed and around 320 injured in a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that hit northern Afghanistan overnight, the health ministry said.
In the Balkh and Samangan provinces "around 320 countrymen have been injured and more than 20 have been killed", ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a video message shared with journalists, specifying that this was a preliminary toll.
The quake occurred at approximately 2030 GMT on Sunday at a depth of 28 kilometres (17.4 miles) near Mazar-e-Sharif, one of the country's largest cities, said the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The German Research Center for Geosciences earlier said that the magnitude of the earthquake was recorded at 6.4.
On August 31, the deadliest quake in recent Afghan history, measuring 6.0, struck in the country's east, killing more than 2,200 people.
Earthquakes are common in the country, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.
Since 1900, northeastern Afghanistan has been hit by 12 quakes with a magnitude above 7, according to Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey.
