AP photo
More than 2,200 people have been confirmed dead in the 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan over the weekend, Taliban authorities said on Thursday.Deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat posted on X that at least 2,217 people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured, with the vast majority of casualties in the mountainous Kunar province near the Pakistan border. He added that “rescue efforts are still ongoing”.Afghanistan was shaken again on Thursday as a 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) reported. The tremor occurred at a depth of 135 km. In a post on X, the NCS said: “EQ of M: 4.8, On: 04/09/2025 10:40:56 IST, Lat: 34.38 N, Long: 70.37 E, Depth: 135 Km, Location: Afghanistan.”Powerful tremors destroyed villages and left people trapped under collapsed houses made mostly of mud bricks and wood. The difficult terrain slowed rescue efforts, with Taliban authorities air-dropping commandos to evacuate the injured from areas where helicopters cannot land. Another earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale struck eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, near the epicentre of Sunday’s powerful tremor, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has reported that thousands have been directly affected by the disaster across four provinces. Meanwhile, India airlifted 21 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan on Tuesday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced on X, “Indian earthquake assistance reaches Kabul by air.”The consignment included a wide range of relief materials such as blankets, tents, hygiene kits, water storage tanks, generators, and essential medicines. The minister added that India would continue to monitor the situation and provide more assistance in the coming days. Earthquakes are a recurring disaster in Afghanistan, where much of the population lives in fragile housing near geological faults. The country’s position at the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, particularly in the Hindu Kush region, makes it highly vulnerable to seismic activity. Each major quake also further strains reconstruction efforts in a nation already battered by decades of conflict.
