At least 27 people are dead and scores more injured after an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck near the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif early on November 3, just two months after a deadly and devastating quake rocked the eastern part of the country.
The US Geological Survey said its models indicated that "significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread" around the city of some 523,000 people.
Social media posts showed videos of what were said to be rescue efforts attempting to help people trapped under ruins following the earthquake. The videos could not immediately be independently verified.
"The earthquake was very strong. It was night, I came out, and I fell here," Nasrullah, a resident of Samangan Province, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
"My wife was martyred (killed) when the room collapsed. The situation was very bad. My life is ruined. My wife was pregnant."
The Hazrat-e-Ali Shrine, or the Blue Mosque, sustained damage to its facade following an earthquake in Mazar-e-Sharif on November 3.
The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency said at least 27 people were killed in the quake, while some 733 more were injured. Taliban authorities said portions of Balkh and Samangan provinces appeared to be the worst-hit.
"A wall of our house also collapsed in the earthquake. The situation here is very bad. All the people's houses have collapsed. There are many martyrs and injured," another Samangan resident, who asked not to be named, told Radio Azadi.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that within an hour of the earthquake, it had begun to mobilize responders.
It said support is "urgently" needed for local medical facilities to "manage the high influx of injured patients."
An official in Mazar-e Sharif said the city's famed Blue Mosque, one of the country's few tourist sites, had been damaged in the quake.
A journalist from AFP reported that parts of the 15th-century mosque, particularly one of its minarets, had been damaged and that debris was scattered across the grounds.
The latest quake follows a magnitude 4.9 temblor that hit Afghanistan's Hindu Kush region on November 1. Casualties and damages from that incident are not yet clear.
In August, a major earthquake killed more than 2,000 people as authorities in the impoverished, war-ravaged nation pleaded with countries to send aid.
Most international aid efforts to the country were disrupted after the hard-line Taliban militants seized power in August 2021.
Deadly earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, with poor construction and infrastructure assets often hampering rescue efforts.
AFP quoted Brian Baptie, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey, as saying that since 1900 northeastern Afghanistan has been hit by at least 12 quakes with a magnitude above 7.
The Taliban rulers have remained mostly isolated in the global community.
Russia is the only country that officially recognizes the Taliban as the country's government, although the rulers have made attempts over the past year to reengage with the rest of the world.
SEE ALSO: Pakistan Says Peace Talks With Afghan Taliban Fail To Find 'Workable Solution'Western nations have accused the Taliban of major human rights violations, especially against girls and women. They have predicated potential diplomatic ties on an improved rights situation.
The Taliban also faces an armed border conflict with much more-powerful Pakistan, with peace negotiations having mainly broken down.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have held talks in Istanbul aimed at securing peace after more than 70 people were killed last month in border clashes.
The recent violence, which also wounded hundreds of people, has been the worst since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The Taliban has also struggled to battle against domestic terrorist groups and endemic poverty.