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The 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit late on Sunday night, flattening homes and buildings in remote, mountainous areas near the border with Pakistan
Afghans walk past damaged houses, after earthquakes at Mazar Dara village in Nurgal district, Kunar province, in Eastern Afghanistan. (AFP photo)
A powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan over the weekend has killed more than 1,400 people and injured over 3,000, according to figures released by the Taliban government on Tuesday. It is now one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in recent decades.
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit late on Sunday night, flattening homes and buildings in remote, mountainous areas near the border with Pakistan.
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The worst-affected region is Kunar province, where 1,411 people were reported dead and more than 3,100 injured. In neighbouring Nangarhar province, at least a dozen more people died and hundreds were injured.
Rescue operations are continuing as emergency workers and local villagers search for survivors trapped beneath the rubble. Many homes in the region, made of mud and stone, collapsed instantly during the shallow quake, which struck just eight kilometres below the surface near Jalalabad, according to the US Geological Survey.
“We are still finding injured people in distant villages who need to be taken to hospital,” said Ehsanullah Ehsan, head of the Kunar Provincial Disaster Management Authority. Some of the hardest-hit areas remain inaccessible due to blocked or damaged roads.
Villagers have joined the rescue efforts, using their bare hands to clear debris. The dead, including many children, are being wrapped in white shrouds and buried by grieving families.
The United Nations said the earthquake could affect “hundreds of thousands” and warned that ongoing humanitarian support would be essential.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced $5 million in initial emergency aid and said the UN was working closely with Afghan authorities to assess needs and deliver assistance.
Afghanistan, already facing a deep humanitarian crisis, has seen foreign aid drastically reduced since the Taliban takeover in 2021. The situation has worsened following global funding cuts and the return of millions of Afghan refugees from neighbouring countries.
The country is no stranger to earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush region. In recent years, major quakes in Herat (2023) and Paktika (2022) claimed thousands of lives and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
(With inputs from AFP)
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The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d…Read More
The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d… Read More
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