A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing 622 people and injuring more than 1,500, the interior ministry spokesman told AFP on Monday.
The quake struck just before midnight, shaking buildings as far away as Kabul and Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.
Near the epicentre in eastern Afghanistan, “610 people were killed and 1,300 injured in Kunar province, with numerous houses destroyed,” ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP. In neighbouring Nangarhar province, 12 more people died and 255 were injured, he added.
Taliban authorities and the United Nations rushed to assist devastated areas. “The UN in Afghanistan is deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake that struck the eastern region and claimed hundreds of lives,” the organisation said on X, noting that emergency teams were already delivering aid and lifesaving support.
The US Geological Survey reported that the quake’s epicentre was just 27 kilometres from Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, at a shallow depth of eight kilometres. Shallow tremors are typically more destructive than deeper ones.
Aftershocks and frequent quakes
Several aftershocks rocked the region through the night, including a shallow 5.2-magnitude tremor at 4:00 am (2330 GMT Sunday).
Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountains, where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.
Only days earlier, Nangarhar province was hit by floods that killed five people and destroyed farmland and homes, provincial officials said.
In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude quake in neighbouring Paktika province killed more than 1,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Vulnerable nation
Afghanistan’s vulnerability to natural disasters is compounded by decades of war and poverty. Since the Taliban’s return to power, foreign aid has been drastically reduced, undermining the country’s already limited capacity to respond to crises.
In 2015, more than 380 people were killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a powerful 7.5-magnitude quake struck the region. Among the victims were 12 Afghan schoolgirls who died in a stampede as they tried to flee their collapsing classroom.
