At least 622 killed as powerful earthquake devastates eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (MNTV) — A magnitude 6 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan just before midnight on Monday, killing at least 622 people and injuring more than 1,500 across the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, authorities said.

The quake, which the US Geological Survey reported at a shallow depth of 8 kilometers (5 miles), hit near the border with Pakistan at 19:30 GMT on Sunday. Its tremors were felt in neighboring Pakistan and as far away as India.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mufti Abdul Mateen said Kunar province was hardest hit, with 610 people confirmed dead, 1,300 injured, and hundreds of homes reduced to rubble. In neighboring Nangarhar, at least 12 people were killed and 255 injured.

“Necessary directives have been issued to provincial officials to immediately reach the affected areas, provide timely assistance, and take firm, comprehensive measures,” Mateen said in a statement, adding that security, medical, and rescue teams had intensified their efforts.

Sharafat Zaman, spokesman for the Health Ministry, warned that the death toll was expected to rise.

“Rescue operations are still underway, and several villages have been completely destroyed,” he said.

“Figures for martyrs and injured are changing as many areas have yet to report casualty numbers.”

The Defence Ministry has flown 30 doctors and nearly 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds) of medicine into Kunar, where local hospitals are overwhelmed. Dozens of patients are being transferred to Nangarhar Regional Hospital in Jalalabad, according to TOLOnews. Helicopters have been deployed to evacuate the wounded from remote districts.

The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) said its teams are providing emergency aid in some of the worst-hit areas, particularly Nurgal district.

“A powerful earthquake struck late last night in various areas of Kunar province, causing both human casualties and significant financial losses,” the organization said on X.

The Kunar Disaster Management Authority identified affected districts as Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi, and Chapadare, where houses built of mud and timber collapsed instantly under the force of the quake.

Afghanistan, straddling the Hindu Kush mountain range where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries.

• In 2023, a magnitude 6.3 quake in Herat killed more than 2,000 people.
• In 2022, a powerful tremor in the east left at least 1,000 dead and 1,500 injured.
• In 2015, an earthquake in the northeast killed over 200 people across Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.
• In 2002, a 6.1 quake killed about 1,000 people in the north.
• In 1998, more than 4,500 were killed in a devastating series of quakes in the northeast.

The latest disaster has once again highlighted Afghanistan’s vulnerability, with fragile housing, mountainous terrain, and limited emergency resources leaving communities exposed to repeated tragedy.