KABUL (Reuters/AFP/Dunya News) – One of Afghanistan's worst earthquakes killed more than 800 people and injured at least 2,800, authorities said on Monday, as helicopters ferried the wounded to hospital after they were plucked from the rubble of homes being combed for survivors.
The disaster is set to further stretch the resources of the war-torn nation's Taliban administration, already grappling with humanitarian crises, from a sharp drop in aid to the pushback of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by neighbouring countries.
Sharafat Zaman, the spokesperson for the health ministry in Kabul, called for international aid to tackle the devastation from the quake of magnitude 6 that struck around midnight, at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
"We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses," he told Reuters.
The quake killed 812 people in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, said administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Rescuers were battling to reach remote mountainous areas cut off from mobile networks along the Pakistani border, where mudbrick homes dotting the slopes collapsed in the quake.
Health authorities said rescuers were racing to reach remote hamlets dotting an area with a long history of earthquakes and floods.
"Figures from just a few clinics show over 400 injured and dozens of fatalities," ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement that warned of higher casualties.
Taliban-led health authorities in Kabul, however, said they were still confirming the official toll figure as they worked to reach remote areas.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.2, with its epicenter located near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province as it took place at a depth of eight kilometers.
Around 20 minutes later, a strong aftershock measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale was also felt in the same region, with a depth of 10 kilometers.
Local officials warn that the casualty figures are likely to rise, as communication with remote areas remains limited and rescue efforts are still underway.
"The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site," health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement.
Hundreds of injured were taken to hospital, said Najibullah Hanif, the provincial information head, with figures likely to rise as reports arrived from remote areas with few roads.
Rescuers were working in several districts of the mountainous province where the midnight quake hit at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), to level homes of mud and stone on the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, officials said.
In Nurgal district, several villages have reportedly been buried under debris, raising fears that hundreds more may be trapped beneath the rubble.
"In Dara-i-Nur district, the death toll has reached nine, and the number of injured has reached 20," a Nangarhar government statement said.
The head of the Nangarhar provincial hospital, Fahimullah Dilawar, later said another person had died, bringing the confirmed toll to ten.
Two children were killed when the roof of their home caved in during the shaking, according to initial reports from provincial authorities.
AFP photos showed several injured children seen receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
Emergency response teams are working around the clock to reach the affected areas and provide relief to survivors.
Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
A series of earthquakes in its west killed more than 1,000 people last year, underscoring the vulnerability of one of the world’s poorest countries to natural disasters.
Afghanistan government Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a statement shared on X, wrote: “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 center and nearby provinces are also on their way, and all available resources will be utilized to save lives,” he said.
Meanwhile earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale jolted federal capital Islamabad and different cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab on late Sunday night, Dunya News reported.
Tremors were felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Haripur, Abbottabad, Nowshera, Charsadda, Gujranwala, Chiniot, Swat, Mianwali, Mandi Bahauddin, Upper Dir, Wazirabad, Chakwal, and several other cities.
People came out of their homes in panic and started reciting verses from the Holy Quran. No loss of life and property was reported from any part of the country due to earthquake.