A powerful magnitude-6 earthquake struck two rugged eastern provinces of Afghanistan, leaving hundreds feared dead and injured, authorities reported on Monday. The midnight tremor, which hit at a depth of 10 kilometers, devastated remote villages in an area bordering Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. Rescue teams, including soldiers and medics, are racing against time to comb through rubble in a desperate hunt for survivors, with helicopters being deployed to airlift the injured to safety.
The scale of the destruction is immense, with the Afghan Interior Ministry’s spokesperson confirming a death toll of at least 622. Initial reports from the scene described three villages in Kunar province as being completely razed to the ground, with many others suffering substantial damage. Images from the area showed residents helping emergency personnel carry the wounded to waiting ambulances, highlighting a community response in the face of overwhelming tragedy.
This natural disaster presents a severe challenge to Afghanistan, further stretching the resources of a nation already crippled by a profound humanitarian crisis. A sharp drop in international aid and the pushback of its citizens from neighbouring countries had already weakened the nation’s capacity to respond. A foreign office spokesperson noted that no foreign governments had yet reached out to provide support for the critical rescue and relief work, potentially hampering efforts.
Afghanistan is highly prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range where tectonic plates meet. This latest event is a grim reminder of the country’s vulnerability, echoing a series of quakes in its west last year that killed over 1,000 people. The combination of rugged terrain, fragile infrastructure, and economic hardship continues to magnify the impact of such disasters on the Afghan people.
