Desperate Search for Survivors as Afghanistan Earthquake Kills Over 800

Rescuers in eastern Afghanistan continued frantic efforts on Tuesday to pull survivors from the rubble after a powerful earthquake flattened villages, killing more than 800 people and injuring thousands.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck shortly after midnight on Sunday in remote mountainous areas near the Pakistan border, followed by at least five aftershocks. According to the US Geological Survey, the epicentre was just 27 kilometres (17 miles) from Jalalabad at a shallow depth of eight kilometres—conditions that increase the scale of destruction.

In Kunar province, the epicentre of devastation, provincial disaster Chief Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP that operations had continued “throughout the night” but many injured residents in remote villages were still awaiting evacuation to hospitals. With roads blocked and access limited, locals joined the rescue effort, clawing through debris of collapsed mud and stone homes with their bare hands.

Bodies, including those of children, were wrapped in white shrouds and buried after villagers offered prayers. The Taliban government confirmed at least 800 deaths and 2,500 injuries in Kunar, with an additional 12 dead and 255 injured in neighbouring Nangarhar, and dozens more wounded in Laghman province.

The UN migration agency warned that several of the hardest-hit villages remain inaccessible. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the organisation was working closely with authorities to “swiftly assess needs and provide emergency assistance,” pledging an initial $5 million in support.

Afghanistan’s vulnerability to natural disasters has been compounded by decades of war, poverty, and political isolation. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, international aid has been drastically reduced. The United States, once the largest donor, slashed nearly all funding after President Donald Trump took office in early 2025. In June, the United Nations announced deep cuts to its global humanitarian programmes, further weakening Afghanistan’s disaster response capacity.

The quake has been particularly devastating for families recently forced back from Iran and Pakistan, many of whom live in fragile mud-brick homes that crumbled under the tremors. “There is a lot of fear and tension… Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this in our lives,” said Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad, a local agricultural officer in Nurgal.

Pope Leo XIV expressed condolences in a Vatican statement, saying he was “deeply saddened by the significant loss of life.”

Afghanistan, located in the seismically active Hindu Kush range at the meeting point of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, is frequently struck by deadly earthquakes.