A massive rescue operation was underway in Afghanistan on Monday after a powerful earthquake flattened homes in a remote, mountainous region, killing more than 800 people, Taliban officials confirmed. The toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue to dig through the rubble.
The 6.0-magnitude tremor struck just before midnight, shaking buildings from Kabul to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Casualties and destruction spread across at least five provinces, with helicopters evacuating the injured as rescuers worked into the evening.
“The search is still ongoing. Many people are trapped beneath collapsed roofs,” said Ehsanullah Ehsan, disaster management head in Kunar province, warning the toll could climb. Around 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured in Kunar alone, according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Neighbouring Nangarhar reported 12 deaths and 255 injuries, while 58 were injured in Laghman. In Wadir village, survivors dug through debris with their bare hands to free neighbours from crushed homes. Many of the injured were transported to hospitals in Jalalabad.
The US Geological Survey reported the quake’s epicentre 27 kilometres from Jalalabad, at a depth of eight kilometres. Experts said its shallow depth contributed to the devastation, particularly in mud-brick homes prone to collapse.
Roads to some villages remain blocked nearly 20 hours after the quake, hampering aid delivery. “There is a lot of fear and tension… Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this,” said Nurgal resident Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Pope Leo XIV expressed condolences, with the Vatican noting the Pope was “deeply saddened by the significant loss of life”.
Afghanistan sits at a seismic crossroads and is frequently struck by earthquakes. In 2023, Herat province was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude quake that killed more than 1,500 people. A year earlier, a 5.9-magnitude tremor killed over 1,000 in Paktika.
The country’s decades of war and economic hardship have left it poorly equipped to cope with disasters. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, foreign aid has been drastically reduced, worsening an already fragile humanitarian situation.