Kunar: Afghanistan faced a catastrophic earthquake late Sunday night when a 6.0-magnitude tremor struck the rugged eastern province of Kunar, unleashing at least five aftershocks that demolished homes and sparked a desperate rescue push. The disaster has left more than 800 dead and at least 2,500 injured, with officials warning that numbers could climb higher.
The quake hit just before midnight at 11:47 p.m., sending shockwaves from Kabul to Islamabad in neighboring Pakistan. According to the United States Geological Survey, the epicenter was 27 kilometers from Jalalabad Afghanistan’s fifth-largest city and about 140 kilometers from the capital, at a shallow depth of 8 kilometers, which intensified the destruction.
A follow-up 4.5-magnitude quake rattled the same area 20 minutes later at a 10-kilometer depth, with a 5.2-magnitude tremor soon after. Entire villages in Kunar were leveled, their mud-and-stone houses crumbling into debris. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reported 800 fatalities and 2,500 injuries in Kunar during a Kabul press conference, noting unchanged figures of 12 dead and 255 injured in Nangarhar province.
One resident from the hard-hit Nurgal district told the Associated Press, “Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble. We need help here. We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.”
Mujahid added, “Sadly, tonight’s earthquake has caused loss of life and property damage in some of our eastern provinces. Local officials and residents are currently engaged in rescue efforts for the affected people. Support teams from the centre and nearby provinces are also on their way.”
Social media videos captured locals sifting through wreckage for survivors, while footage showed a helicopter delivering soldiers to Kunar. Reuters video depicted rescued victims being unloaded on stretchers at a Jalalabad military base, with hospital images revealing patients receiving treatment on beds.
A doctor at Asadabad’s provincial hospital in Kunar told BBC they were overwhelmed, admitting “one patient every five minutes” as the facility filled up.
Challenges in the Aftermath
Rescue operations are hampered by the quake’s location in Afghanistan’s most inaccessible mountains. Health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman stated, “The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site.”
Landslides have sealed off the main road to the epicenter, per BBC reports, prompting the Taliban to deploy helicopters for evacuations. Al Jazeera’s Mohsin Momand in Kabul described the roads as unpaved and rock-strewn from the quake, making access tough. He noted that mud houses in the area collapsed readily.
World Vision Afghanistan’s national director Thamindri de Silva told Al Jazeera, “This is one of the most remote and also one of the poorest parts of Afghanistan.” She explained that fragile buildings “very easily collapse,” burying many, and stressed, “Time truly is of the essence when it comes to this situation.”
Compounding the crisis is Afghanistan’s economic turmoil under Taliban rule, with slashed international aid leading to severe shortages in food and medicine. The government has appealed urgently for foreign help, though delivery to remote spots will take time. India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has offered assistance, expressing “solidarity to Afghan people” and pledging to “extend assistance in this hour of need.”
Seismic Vulnerability
Afghanistan’s position on active fault lines and tectonic plates makes it earthquake-prone. This event echoes the October 7, 2023, 6.3-magnitude quake and aftershocks, where Taliban estimates cited at least 4,000 deaths, though the UN reported about 1,500. UNICEF noted over 90 percent of victims were women and children the deadliest disaster in recent years.
Before that, a June 2022 5.9-magnitude quake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 1,000 and injured over 1,500.
With inputs from agencies
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