Rescue operations are underway in eastern Afghanistan after a devastating earthquake killed at least 1,124 people, according to the Afghan Red Crescent Society on Tuesday. The humanitarian group also reported more than 3,200 injured and over 8,000 homes destroyed.
The 6.0-magnitude quake, followed by at least five aftershocks, struck mountainous provinces near the Pakistan border shortly after midnight on Sunday. Its shallow depth of just eight kilometers made it particularly destructive, flattening mud and stone houses in steep valleys.
Officials fear the toll may rise as many remote villages remain cut off. “Operations continued throughout the night,” said Ehsanullah Ehsan, head of the Kunar Provincial Disaster Management Authority, adding that injured survivors in distant areas still need evacuation.
Villagers themselves joined the search, using their bare hands to dig through debris. “I’m searching here, but I didn’t see him,” said 26-year-old Obaidullah Stoman, who came to look for a missing friend in Wadir. “It was very difficult for me to see the conditions here. There is only rubble left.”
In communities across the affected region, families wrapped the dead — including children — in white shrouds before offering prayers and burials. Blocked roads have hampered relief efforts, the UN migration agency said.
The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter about 27 kilometers from Jalalabad. The Taliban’s provisional toll listed 800 dead and 2,500 injured in Kunar province alone, with additional casualties reported in Nangarhar and Laghman.
The disaster has compounded Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis. Decades of conflict, mass returns of refugees, and severe foreign aid cuts since the Taliban takeover in 2021 have left the country ill-prepared to respond. The United States, once Afghanistan’s largest donor, halted most funding in early 2025, while the United Nations recently announced deep reductions to global aid programs.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the organization is working with Afghan authorities to assess needs, provide emergency assistance, and has pledged an initial \$5 million in aid. Pope Leo XIV also expressed sorrow over the tragedy, saying he was “deeply saddened by the significant loss of life.”
Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, particularly in the Hindu Kush region where tectonic plates meet. In October 2023, a 6.3-magnitude quake killed more than 1,500 people in Herat province, while a 5.9-magnitude quake in Paktika in 2022 claimed over 1,000 lives.
