One of Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquakes in recent years has killed at least 812 people and injured more than 2,800, officials said on Monday, as rescue operations continued in the country’s remote eastern provinces.
The magnitude-6 quake struck around midnight at a depth of 10km (six miles), destroying mudbrick homes across the mountainous border regions of Kunar and Nangarhar. Authorities said three villages were completely razed, with widespread damage reported in many others.
Helicopters were seen ferrying the wounded to hospitals, while residents and security forces carried the injured to ambulances. The defence ministry said military teams had been dispatched to assist in rescue efforts, with 40 flights already transporting 420 dead and wounded from affected areas.
“Lots of people lost their lives and houses. We need international support,” said Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for the health ministry in Kabul. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban administration, confirmed the latest death toll and warned that the figure could rise as search teams reached remote areas cut off from mobile networks.
The disaster adds to the growing strain on Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which is already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis, dwindling aid, and the forced return of hundreds of thousands of Afghans from neighbouring countries.
Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, foreign development funding—which once accounted for the majority of government finances—has largely been suspended. Even humanitarian aid has shrunk sharply, falling from $3.8 billion (€3.2bn) in 2022 to just $767 million (€654m) this year, according to UN figures.
Aid agencies warn that Afghanistan remains a “forgotten crisis,” with more than half of the population in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Many donors have reduced contributions, citing global crises elsewhere and frustration with Taliban restrictions on women, including bans on female aid workers.
“So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,” a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s foreign office said. China later announced it was prepared to provide assistance “according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on social media platform X that the UN mission in Afghanistan was mobilising support for affected communities.
The country is no stranger to devastating quakes. A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in June 2022 killed about 1,000 people in the east, while another struck the western city of Herat in 2023, leaving thousands homeless. Many villages hit then are still living in temporary shelters.
Afghanistan’s location in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, makes it one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world.
