622 killed as 6.0 magnitude earthquake hits Afghanistan
A powerful earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale has devastated eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 622 people and injuring over 1,500, according to state-run broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA).
The tremor struck shortly after midnight, with its epicenter located about 27 kilometers (17 miles) from Jalalabad, a major city of nearly 200,000 residents near the Pakistan border, the US Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed. The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers, amplifying its destructive impact across several mountainous districts.
Officials from the Taliban-led health ministry cautioned that the confirmed death toll could rise further, as many of the worst-affected areas are remote villages with limited road access. Early reports indicated dozens of fatalities in single hamlets, with rescuers still digging through rubble to find survivors. “The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site,” ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said.
Provincial officials reported that hundreds of the injured were rushed to hospitals in Nangarhar and neighboring provinces. Najibullah Hanif, the provincial information director, said more patients were being transported as communication lines slowly reopened with cut-off regions.
Homes made of mud and stone—common in rural Afghanistan—collapsed instantly under the tremors, leaving families trapped. Entire communities in Kunar province and its surroundings have been flattened, according to local reports. Rescuers, supported by volunteers, are racing against time to recover survivors, though nightfall and blocked mountain roads are hampering operations.
Afghanistan sits in a highly active seismic zone, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountains, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. Earthquakes are a recurring disaster in the country. In 2023, a series of tremors in western Afghanistan killed more than 1,000 people, underscoring the fragility of a nation already grappling with poverty, conflict, and a fragile healthcare system.
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