Afghanistan earthquake survivors face cold and rain amid rubble

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Survivors of a powerful earthquake in northern Afghanistan that killed more than 25 people and injured nearly 1,000 were digging through the rubble of their homes Tuesday, trying to salvage what belongings they could after spending the night outside in the bitter cold.

Rain was forecast for the region, further compounding the misery for survivors.

The 6.3 magnitude quake struck just before 1 a.m. local time Monday, with an epicenter 22 kilometers (14 miles) west-southwest of the town of Khulm in Samangan province. By early Tuesday afternoon, the death stood at 27, while another 956 people were injured, Public Health Ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement.

The tremor also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan’s famed Blue Mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, which is one of Afghanistan’s most revered religious landmarks, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.

The Blue Mosque's minaret was badly damaged, while some bricks and tiles had fallen from some of the mosque's walls and cracks appeared in other parts of the centuries-old site, said Mahmoodullah Zarar, Head of Information and Culture of Balkh Province.

“The Holy Shrine is a valuable monument of Islamic values ​​and the history of the Islamic era ... (and) is in dire need of repair and restoration,” he said, adding that information on the damage had been shared with the ministry of art and culture.

Video footage from the mosque, which is a major gathering place during Islamic and cultural festivals, showed structural damage to parts of the mosque, while brickwork and the decorative tiles that adorn its facade had crumbled in several places and laid strewn on the ground.

The most severely damaged historical monument in the province was the 19th century Bagh-e Jehan Nama Palace, said Firozuddin Munib, Samangan province’s Head of Information and Culture. The palace, built in 1890-1892, and its adjoining gardens are a popular site for visitors.

“The restoration of this palace is very important because winter is coming and the area is cold, and it is raining, which may cause further damage,” Munib said, adding that the quake caused a surrounding wall and one tower to collapse and also led to cracks in the palace and other towers.

In Khulm, aftershocks rattled survivors, who spent the night out in the open.

“People are still scared because of last night’s earthquake because small tremors were felt during the day,” said local resident Asadullah Samangani. “We spent the night in the open ground last night, the weather was very cold, we couldn’t sleep, we feel like there will be another earthquake now.”

He said authorities had sent tents and basic necessities, but that his home was “completely destroyed, nothing was left intact to use. Our children were all sick in the morning because we had spent the night in the cold, and all the household items were under the rubble.

"People from other areas came to help, but our belongings are still under rubble and damaged. Our women are facing great difficulties, we do not have a toilet and we do not have a place where our women can spend the night.”

Rescue crews were still operating in some areas on Tuesday, and were expected to finish by the end of the day.

The World Health Organization said partial damage had been reported in several health facilities, while the laboratory at the Samangan Provincial Hospital had collapsed, destroying critical medical equipment. Emergency response operations with health teams and rescue units were ongoing, it said.

Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to 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.

Damage is seen along a road near the site of a powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake in a rural area of the Khulm District in Samangan Province, northern Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Sirat Noori)

Damage is seen in the historic Blue Mosque after a powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Sirat Noori)

Locals search among the rubble of a destroyed house after a 6.3 powerful in a rural area of the Khulm District, Samangan Province, northern Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025.(AP Photo/Sirat Noori)

Damage is seen in the historic Blue Mosque after a powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Sirat Noori)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.

Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.

“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”

The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.

Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)