Hundreds feared dead as 6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Afghanistan

Hundreds are feared dead or injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan’s remote northeastern province of Kunar, authorities said on Monday, as rescue teams searched through the rubble of collapsed homes for survivors. At least 800 deaths have been reported and over 2,800 people injured, as helicopters ferried the wounded to hospitals after they were plucked from rubble during rescue operations.

Taliban soldiers and civilians carry earthquake victims to an ambulance at an airport in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, September 1, 2025. REUTERS

Early reports indicated at least 30 fatalities in a single village, according to the health ministry, which warned that accurate casualty figures were still being compiled in the region, known for its scattered settlements and history of earthquakes and flooding.

“The number of casualties and injuries is high, but due to the difficult terrain, our teams are still on the ground,” ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement.

Hundreds of injured people have been transported to hospitals, provincial information chief Najibullah Hanif said, adding that the toll is expected to rise as updates arrive from isolated districts with limited road access.

Rescue operations were underway across several districts in the mountainous province, where the midnight quake—measuring 10 km (6 miles) deep—flattened homes built of mud and stone near the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, officials added.

Afghanistan is highly susceptible to deadly earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountains, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates converge.
Last year, a series of quakes in the country’s western region claimed over 1,000 lives, highlighting the extreme vulnerability of one of the world’s poorest nations to natural disasters.