Around 500 folks have been killed and 1000 extra injured in an earthquake that struck jap Afghanistan on Monday.
Ali Khara | Reuters
One of Afghanistan’s worst earthquakes killed greater than 800 folks and injured at the very least 2,800, authorities mentioned on Monday, as rescuers struggled to succeed in distant areas attributable to tough mountainous terrain and inclement climate.
The catastrophe will additional stretch the assets of the war-torn nation’s Taliban administration, already grappling with crises starting from a pointy drop in overseas assist to deportations of a whole bunch of 1000’s of Afghans by neighboring international locations.
Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for the well being ministry in Kabul, referred to as for worldwide assist to sort out the devastation wrought by the quake of magnitude 6 that struck round midnight native time, at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
“We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses,” he instructed Reuters.
The quake killed 812 folks within the jap provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid mentioned.
Ziaul Haq Mohammadi, a scholar at Al-Falah University within the jap metropolis of Jalalabad, was finding out in his room at dwelling when the quake struck. He mentioned he tried to face up however was knocked over by the facility of the tremor.
“We spent the whole night in fear and anxiety because at any moment another earthquake could happen,” Mohammadi mentioned.
Rescuers had been battling to succeed in distant mountainous areas minimize off from cell networks alongside the Pakistani border, the place mudbrick properties dotting the slopes collapsed within the quake.
“The area of the earthquake was affected by heavy rain in the last 24-48 hours as well, so the risk of landslides and rock slides is also quite significant – that is why many of the roads are impassable,” Kate Carey, an officer on the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), instructed Reuters.
Rescue groups and authorities are attempting to eliminate animal carcasses shortly in order to reduce the danger of contamination to water assets, Carey mentioned.
Afghan males search for their belongings amidst the rubble of a collapsed home after a lethal magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan round midnight, in Dara Mazar, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, Sept. 1, 2025.
Stringer | Reuters
Casualties may rise as rescue groups entry extra remoted places, authorities mentioned.
“All our … teams have been mobilized to accelerate assistance, so that comprehensive and full support can be provided,” mentioned well being ministry spokesperson Abdul Maten Qanee, citing efforts in areas from safety to meals and well being.
Reuters Television pictures confirmed helicopters ferrying out the affected, whereas residents helped safety forces and medics carry the wounded to ambulances in an space with a protracted historical past of earthquakes and floods.
Military rescue groups fanned out throughout the area, the protection ministry mentioned in an announcement, with 40 flights carrying away 420 wounded and lifeless.
The quake razed three villages in Kunar, with substantial injury in lots of others, authorities mentioned. At least 610 folks had been killed in Kunar with 12 lifeless in Nangarhar, they added.
It was Afghanistan’s third main lethal quake for the reason that Taliban took over in 2021 as overseas forces withdrew, triggering a minimize to the worldwide funding that shaped the majority of presidency funds.
Diplomats and assist officers say crises elsewhere within the world, together with donor frustration over the Taliban’s insurance policies in direction of girls, together with curbs on those that are assist employees, have spurred the cuts in funding.
Even humanitarian assist, geared toward bypassing political establishments to serve pressing wants, has shrunk to $767 million this yr, down from $3.8 billion in 2022.
Appeals for funding
Humanitarian companies say they’re preventing a forgotten disaster in Afghanistan, the place the United Nations estimates greater than half the inhabitants is in pressing want of humanitarian assist.
“So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,” a spokesperson of Afghanistan’s overseas workplace mentioned on Monday.
Later, a spokesperson for China’s overseas ministry mentioned it was prepared to offer catastrophe aid help “according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity”.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of India mentioned it had delivered 1,000 household tents to Kabul and was shifting 15 tons of meals materials to Kunar, with extra aid materials to be despatched from India beginning Tuesday.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres mentioned its mission in Afghanistan was getting ready to help these in areas devastated by the quake. Pope Leo additionally despatched condolences for the lifeless.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake that killed 1,000 folks within the jap area in 2022 was the primary main pure catastrophe confronted by the Taliban authorities.
Humanitarian officers and locals say nearly two years after a strong tremor hit the western metropolis of Herat, many villages are nonetheless recovering and residing in non permanent constructions.
Afghanistan is susceptible to lethal earthquakes, notably within the Hindu Kush mountain vary, the place the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
Quakes in Afghanistan are usually so lethal due to constructing building that’s typically susceptible to shaking, and the variety of folks residing within the Hindu Kush, mentioned Richard Walker, professor of tectonics on the University of Oxford.