A devastating Afghanistan earthquake struck late Sunday night near the Pakistan border, leaving at least 250 people dead and 500 others injured. Authorities warned that the death toll could rise as rescuers search for survivors trapped under collapsed homes.
The earthquake in Afghanistan measured 6.0 in magnitude and struck at 11:47 p.m. Its epicenter was recorded 27 kilometers east-northeast of Jalalabad city in Nangarhar province, the US Geological Survey reported. The depth was just 8 kilometers, making the tremor more destructive.
The powerful quake rattled several towns in Kunar province, including Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi, and Chapadare. Villages built of mud and stone houses were flattened, leaving entire communities in ruins. According to the Kunar Disaster Management Authority, dozens of people were killed in a single village alone.
Health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said the number of casualties was still changing. “Rescue operations are underway. Many villages have been completely destroyed. Teams from Kunar, Nangarhar, and Kabul have arrived at the site,” he added.
Hundreds of injured were shifted to hospitals, provincial information chief Najibullah Hanif confirmed. He noted that more reports are expected from remote regions with poor road access, meaning the scale of destruction is still unknown.
The Afghanistan earthquake struck in the mountainous Hindu Kush range, an area prone to frequent tremors due to the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The quake’s shallow depth intensified the destruction.
Officials said the midnight tremor leveled homes in multiple districts and damaged infrastructure along the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The disaster recalled last year’s series of quakes in western Afghanistan that killed more than 1,000 people, underscoring the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters.
The earthquake disaster in Kunar has left families homeless, villages destroyed, and hospitals overwhelmed. Rescue workers continue to dig through rubble in hopes of saving more lives.