A powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday, August 31, flattening homes, triggering aftershocks, and killing more than 600 people in one of the deadliest disasters to hit the country in recent years.
According to Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani, at least 610 people were confirmed dead and 1,300 injured in Kunar province, where countless homes collapsed under the force of the tremor.
In neighbouring Nangarhar province, another 12 deaths and 255 injuries were reported.
The quake, which struck shortly before midnight, sent shockwaves as far as Kabul and across the border into Islamabad, Pakistan, jolting residents awake and forcing thousands to flee into the streets.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake’s epicentre was located 27 kilometres from Jalalabad in Nangarhar province at a shallow depth of 8 kilometres. Experts warn that shallow earthquakes tend to cause greater destruction because the energy released is closer to the earth’s surface.
The initial tremor was followed by a series of aftershocks, including a 5.2-magnitude quake around 4:00 am local time, further shaking already devastated communities.
Images and videos from the affected areas showed families digging through rubble with bare hands, searching for loved ones trapped beneath collapsed buildings.
Hospitals, already strained by limited resources, were overwhelmed with the injured.
The Taliban authorities, alongside the United Nations, quickly mobilised rescue operations in the hardest-hit areas.
“The UN in Afghanistan is deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake that struck the eastern region & claimed hundreds of lives.
Emergency assistance & lifesaving support are being delivered on the ground,” the organisation said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
However, aid agencies cautioned that Afghanistan’s disaster response capacity has been severely weakened since the Taliban takeover in 2021, which led to sharp cuts in international funding.
Afghanistan’s vulnerability to earthquakes
Afghanistan sits near the collision point of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, making it highly prone to seismic activity.
The Hindu Kush mountain range regularly experiences powerful earthquakes, many of which result in high casualties due to fragile infrastructure and densely populated settlements.
This disaster comes just days after flash floods in Nangarhar killed five people and destroyed crops, highlighting the country’s vulnerability to overlapping natural crises.
Afghanistan has a tragic history of deadly quakes:
In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake killed over 1,000 people in Paktika province, leaving tens of thousands homeless.
In 2015, a 7.5-magnitude quake killed more than 380 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ravaged by over four decades of war, Afghanistan is already battling hunger, poverty, and an ongoing humanitarian crisis.
With foreign aid dwindling, experts fear the death toll from this latest earthquake could rise significantly as many communities remain cut off and rescue teams struggle to reach remote areas.
As survivors bury their dead and search for missing family members, global calls are mounting for urgent international assistance to avert an even greater tragedy.