A powerful earthquake and a series of aftershocks have devastated eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 600 people and leaving over 1,500 injured, according to the country’s interior ministry.
The quake, which struck just before midnight on Sunday, was felt as far as Kabul and Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The US Geological Survey reported that the epicentre was located 27 kilometres from Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, at a shallow depth of just eight kilometres — a factor that made the tremor especially destructive.
Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said that in Kunar province alone, 610 people lost their lives and 1,300 others were injured, with widespread destruction of homes. In neighbouring Nangarhar, 12 more deaths and 255 injuries were confirmed.
The Taliban authorities, together with United Nations teams, immediately launched large-scale rescue and relief operations. “The UN in Afghanistan is deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake that struck the eastern region & claimed hundreds of lives,” the UN said on X, adding that emergency aid and lifesaving support were already being delivered to affected communities.
A series of aftershocks, including a shallow 5.2-magnitude tremor at around 4:00 am, shook the region through the night, intensifying panic and hampering rescue efforts.
A Region Prone to Disasters
Afghanistan, straddling the collision zone of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, is no stranger to deadly quakes.
The Hindu Kush Mountain range in particular is one of the world’s most seismically active regions.
Just last weekend, Nangarhar province was also battered by flash floods that killed five people and wiped out crops and property.
In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in nearby Paktika province claimed more than 1,000 lives and displaced tens of thousands.
The country’s vulnerability is compounded by decades of war, poverty, and the drastic reduction of foreign aid following the Taliban’s return to power, leaving Afghanistan dangerously ill-equipped to respond to natural disasters of this scale.
The latest tragedy is a grim reminder of the nation’s fragility: in 2015, a massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake across Afghanistan and Pakistan killed more than 380 people — including 12 Afghan schoolgirls crushed in a stampede as they tried to escape their collapsing classroom.
