A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night, leaving more than 800 people dead and 2,500 injured, officials confirmed on Monday.
The death toll is expected to rise as rescue workers struggle to reach remote villages buried under rubble and cut off by landslides.
The epicenter was near Jalalabad, a city of 200,000 people, but the worst devastation occurred in Kunar Province, where dozens of mud and brick houses collapsed in mountainous villages. Tremors were also felt as far as Kabul, though no major damage was reported in the capital city.
Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesman, told reporters in Kabul that “800 people had been killed and 2,500 injured in Kunar Province alone.” He added that in the neighbouring Nangarhar Province, at least 12 people were killed and 255 injured.
The shallow quake, just five miles below the earth’s surface, magnified its destructive power. Videos circulating online showed residents digging through debris in the dark, desperately trying to rescue neighbours.
Kate Carey, deputy head of the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, said access remained a major challenge.
“At least four eastern provinces; Nangarhar, Nuristan, Laghman, and Kunar, were affected,” she noted, adding that landslides blocked several roads.
Homa Nader, acting head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Afghanistan, said it took the teams four hours overnight to reach Nur Gal district, just 35 miles from Jalalabad.
“One village, Maza Dala, was completely blocked and victims could only be carried out by helicopter,” she said.
Hospitals in Kunar and Nangarhar were still operational despite minor damage, she confirmed.
The quake compounds Afghanistan’s worsening humanitarian crisis. The United Nations said more than half of the country’s 42 million people required aid in 2025, with less than 30 per cent of those needs funded so far.
International assistance has dwindled since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. The United States, once the single largest donor, suspended nearly all contributions under President Donald Trump, while Britain, France, and Sweden have also cut back.
The Taliban have appealed for reconstruction support, but only Russia has formally recognised their government. As of Monday, Iran, India, Japan, and the European Union (EU) had pledged assistance to earthquake victims, according to Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres extended condolences, saying, “The U.N. team in Afghanistan is mobilized and will spare no effort to assist those in need in the affected areas.”
The quake struck as thousands of Afghans expelled from Pakistan were returning home under a government deadline. Among them was Said Meer, who was moving with his two wives and 12 children from Lahore to Jalalabad.
“War, earthquakes, poverty, every hardship is a test from God,” he said by telephone from a border crossing. Despite the tragedy, he insisted he would still relocate to Jalalabad, just 40 miles from the frontier.
Meanwhile, tremors were also felt across northwestern Pakistan, including parts of Punjab, Kashmir, and the capital Islamabad. No major damage or casualties were reported there.
Afghanistan, which sits on several geological fault lines, has a tragic history of deadly quakes. In 2022, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in the southeast killed at least 1,300 people.
