A strong earthquake killed at least 20 people in northern Afghanistan, authorities said Monday, just months after another deadly tremor that left the country reeling.

The 6.3-magnitude quake struck overnight at a depth of 28 kilometers (17 miles) with the epicentre near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the US Geological Survey.

More than 20 people were killed and around 320 were injured in the provinces of Balkh and Samangan, health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman told journalists on Monday morning, stressing that this was a preliminary toll.

He did not provide a province-wide breakdown of the casualties.

Residents of Mazar-i-Sharif, one of Afghanistan's largest northern cities, scrambled into the streets due to fears their homes would collapse, an AFP correspondent observed.

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