A powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday, killing more than 600 people and injuring over 1,500, according to the interior ministry. The tremor, followed by multiple aftershocks, flattened homes and left entire communities in ruins.
The epicentre was located 27 kilometres from Jalalabad in Nangarhar province at a shallow depth of eight kilometres, the US Geological Survey reported. Shallow quakes often cause greater destruction, and this disaster was no exception.
Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said Kunar province was the worst hit, with 610 deaths and 1,300 injuries, alongside widespread destruction of homes. In neighbouring Nangarhar, at least 12 people were killed and 255 injured.
The quake was felt as far away as Kabul and Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. A series of aftershocks continued into Monday morning, including a shallow 5.2-magnitude tremor that struck around 4:00 am.
Rescue efforts were launched immediately, with Taliban authorities and the United Nations mobilising emergency assistance. “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, confirming that teams were on the ground delivering relief.
The disaster comes as Afghanistan reels from decades of war, economic collapse, and shrinking foreign aid since the Taliban’s return to power, severely hampering its ability to respond to natural calamities.
Nangarhar province was already struggling after flooding over the weekend killed five people and destroyed farmland.
Afghanistan sits at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates and is highly prone to earthquakes. In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude quake killed more than 1,000 people in Paktika province. In 2015, a 7.5-magnitude tremor across Afghanistan and Pakistan killed over 380, most of them in Pakistan.
