Kabul, Sept 1 (UNI) International bodies are working at record pace to deliver aid and partaking in rescue operations, as Afghanistan grapples from the aftermath of a massive earthquake which jolted the country’s easter side late Monday.
The highly destructive quake killed at least 622 people, injuring more than 1,300 and destroying entire villages in remote mountainous provinces located in the country’s eastern side – specifically in the Kunar and Nangarhar areas, Taliban officials said.
The 6.0-magnitude quake hit at 11:47 p.m. local time, centred about 27 kilometres east-northeast of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey, reports CBS News.
The tremor was 8km deep, making it especially destructive.
The quake was followed by several aftershocks, including a shallow 5.2-magnitude jolt just after dawn, which sent residents fleeing their homes again. Buildings shook as far away as Kabul and Islamabad, more than 350 km to the south.
Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health on X confirmed that most of the casualties were reported in Kunar province, where more than 610 people were confirmed dead and 1,300 injured. In Nangarhar, at least a dozen fatalities and hundreds of injuries were reported.
Footage from the disaster zone showed desperate residents digging through collapsed homes with their bare hands in the darkness, pulling out survivors and bodies underneath the rubble.
Helicopters and ambulances ferried the wounded to hospitals, while makeshift stretchers carried others to waiting medical teams.
“The quake has killed hundreds and destroyed many houses,” Zaman said. “Rescue operations are ongoing, with medical teams dispatched from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital, Kabul.”
The United Nations confirmed that its humanitarian staff were working alongside local responders in the stricken provinces.
“Our teams are on the ground, delivering emergency assistance and lifesaving support. Our thoughts are with the affected communities,” the UN mission in Afghanistan said on X.
The full scale of the devastation is still emerging, with officials warning that the death toll likely to rise as rescue workers reach remote villages. The terrain in Kunar and Nangarhar is rugged and difficult to access, with limited road networks and poor infrastructure slowing relief efforts.
Many of the homes in the area are built from clay, stone and mud, leaving them highly vulnerable to earthquakes.
Residents interviewed in Kunar described losing entire families when their houses crumbled. Survivors spent the night in the open, fearing further aftershocks, as temperatures dropped and rain threatened to worsen conditions.
Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. In June 2022, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Paktika province killed more than 1,000 people in what was then the country’s deadliest quake in two decades.
Monday night’s quake adds to Afghanistan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis. The country is already grappling with widespread poverty, food shortages, and a strained health care system, exacerbated by international sanctions and the withdrawal of foreign aid since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
