At least 20 people have died after an earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, local authorities say, with the toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.
Hundreds have also been left injured, local officials told the BBC.
The earthquake struck near Mazar-e-Sharif, one of the country's largest cities that is home to about 500,000 people, at around 01:00 local time on Monday, (20:30 GMT on Sunday).
It had a magnitude of 6.3 and a depth of 28km (17 miles), according to the US Geological Survey, and was marked at the orange alert level, which indicates significant casualties are likely.
More than 530 people have been injured, according to the Taliban government health ministry.
Provincial officials earlier told the BBC that casualties were likely to rise as rescue efforts continued.
Haji Zaid, a Taliban spokesman in Balkh province, stated that many people are injured in the Sholgara district, south of Mazar-e-Sharif. He reported that most injuries were caused by individuals falling from tall buildings as panicked residents rushed into the streets.
The quake resulted in a nationwide power outage, affecting the capital city Kabul as power lines from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were damaged.
Numerous fatalities were also reported in Samangan, a mountainous province near Mazar-e-Sharif.
This earthquake follows a previous 6.0 magnitude quake in late August that claimed more than 1,100 lives in Afghanistan's eastern mountainous region, highlighting the country's vulnerability to seismic events due to its location on major fault lines.
Rescue efforts face additional challenges due to poor infrastructure and communication networks, which often exacerbate the impact of such natural disasters.
