6.0-magnitude earthquake rocks Afghanistan; death toll rises to 800
What's the story
A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's northeastern province of Kunar, near the Pakistan border, late Sunday. Speaking at a news conference, Afghan government spokesperson Mawlawi Zabihullah Mujahid said the death toll in Kunar has now reached 800, with 2,500 more injured. The quake struck Kunar at 11:47pm and was centered 27 kilometers northeast of the city of Jalalabad, according to the US Geological Survey. It was just 8km deep; quakes that are shallower are more likely to cause greater damage.
Ongoing operations
Rescue operations underway in several districts
Taliban-led health officials in Kabul, however, said they were still confirming the number of victims as they tried to reach rural locations. According to AFP journalists, the earthquake rattled buildings from Kabul to Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, almost 230 miles away, for several seconds. Footage from Nangarhar showed people frantically sifting through wreckage with their hands, searching for loved ones in the dark of night, and injured people being evacuated from collapsed buildings on stretchers and into helicopters.
UN
UN said rescue teams on the ground
The United Nations said it had rescue teams on the ground "delivering emergency assistance and lifesaving support." The Afghan Red Crescent also posted on X that officials and "medical teams rushed to the affected areas and are currently providing emergency assistance to impacted families." The earthquake occurs as the Taliban-ruled country is in the grip of a hunger and economic crisis, with significant cuts to international humanitarian aid and the termination of over $1.7 billion in American aid contracts.
Natural disaster
Afghanistan's vulnerability to earthquakes
Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes due to its location in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates converge. In June 2022, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck parts of eastern Afghanistan, killing over 1,000 people and wounding over 1,500 more. After that, on October 7, 2023, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked Afghanistan, followed by significant aftershocks. The Taliban regime estimated that at least 4,000 people died, but the United Nations placed the figure at approximately 1,500.