Rescue Operations Struggle as Powerful Quake Kills Hundreds in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province
The death toll from the devastating earthquake that hit eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night climbed to 1,124, the Afghan Red Crescent said on Tuesday. At least 3,251 people have been injured, while the quake destroyed over 8,000 houses, the humanitarian group said through the US social media company X.
According to interim administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, casualties were reported across Nur Gal, Sawki, Watpur, Manogi, and Chapa Dara districts, Anadolu Agency reported. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded the quake at 11:47 p.m. local time, centered 27 kilometers northeast of Jalalabad at a shallow depth of 8 kilometers, amplifying the destruction. Hundreds of homes and buildings were flattened, and landslides blocked key roads, forcing helicopters to ferry the injured to hospitals.
Authorities said 35 flights had already transported 335 people to Nangarhar Regional Hospital, while emergency teams remain unable to access isolated villages. The interim government allocated 100 million Afghanis ($1.4 million) for immediate relief and formed a committee led by Rural Rehabilitation Minister Mullah Mohammad Yunus Akhundzada to coordinate aid.
The UN said its staff is assisting on the ground, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressing “full solidarity with the Afghan people” and China’s President Xi Jinping extending condolences.
Afghanistan, located on the collision zone of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, is highly vulnerable to earthquakes. Shallow quakes in particular have caused severe destruction in recent years. The 2022 Paktika earthquake killed over 1,000, while tremors in Herat in 2023 claimed more than 2,000 lives. Sunday’s quake in Kunar is now among the deadliest since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
Locals described it as one of the strongest in memory, while emergency workers brace for worsening conditions as aftershocks continue.
