At least 250 people have been killed and hundreds more injured after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late on Sunday, flattening homes and leaving rescuers scrambling to reach remote communities.
The magnitude 6 tremor struck the rugged province of Kunar at 11.47pm, with its epicentre located 27km north-east of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangarhar, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake struck at a depth of just 8km, amplifying the destruction. A second tremor, measuring 4.5, followed 20 minutes later in the same province.
Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s health ministry, confirmed the death toll was likely to rise as emergency teams continued their work in areas difficult to access. “The number of casualties and injuries is high but since the area is difficult to access our teams are still on site,” he said.
The provincial disaster management authority reported that 250 people had died and around 500 were injured across the districts of Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi and Chapadare. In Nangarhar province, nine deaths were recorded, according to Sediqullah Quraishi Badloon, a communications official.
Hundreds of wounded were rushed to hospitals in Jalalabad, the regional capital and a key trading hub on the Pakistani border. Officials warned that figures would rise further as reports filtered in from isolated mountain communities where road access is limited.
Much of Jalalabad is built from concrete and brick, but outlying districts rely on mud-brick and wooden homes that are highly vulnerable to seismic shocks. The Kabul River runs through the city, sustaining its agriculture, which includes citrus fruit and rice.
Rescuers were deployed across affected districts on the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where many homes of stone and mud were levelled by the force of the quake.
Afghanistan lies on a tectonic faultline and is among the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. The Hindu Kush range, where the Indian and Eurasian plates collide, is especially vulnerable.
The country has endured repeated seismic disasters in recent years. Last October, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in the west killed thousands. The Taliban government put the death toll at 4,000, though the United Nations estimated 1,500 making it the deadliest natural disaster to hit Afghanistan in recent decades.
