More than 800 killed in 6.0-magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan

Tremor felt about 27km away from Jalalabad, the country's fifth-largest city

Taliban soldiers and civilians carry people injured in the earthquake to an ambulance at an airport in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Reuters

An earthquake in eastern Afghanistan has killed at least 800 people and injured more than 2,800, the Taliban government said on Monday.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit about 27km from Jalalabad, the country's fifth-largest city, at about midnight local time, destroying numerous villages in the districts of Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi and Chapadare.

“Rescue operations are still under way there and several villages have been completely destroyed,” said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health. "The figures for martyrs and injured are changing. Medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area."

He said many areas had not yet been able to report casualty figures and “the numbers were expected to change” as more deaths and injuries are recorded.

The UAE has expressed its solidarity with Afghanistan over the victims of the earthquake. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "conveyed the UAE’s sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, and to the people of Afghanistan over this tragedy, as well as its wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured."

UN Secretary General António Guterres also expressed his "full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake."

"I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured," he said in a post on X, adding that the UN team in Afghanistan is mobilized and will spare no effort to assist those in need in the affected areas.

In a post shared by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV said he was "deeply saddened by the significant loss of life caused by the earthquake in the area of eastern Afghanistan".

A relatively shallow earthquake caused significant damage to Afghanistan. EPA

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck about eight kilometres below the Earth's surface.Relatively shallow quakes can cause more damage, especially since the majority of Afghans live in low-rise, mud-brick homes vulnerable to collapse.

A 6.3-magnitude struck Afghanistan in October 2023. The Taliban authorities said at least 4,000 people died, while the UN gave a lower death toll of about 1,500. The latest earthquake was likely to “dwarf the scale of the humanitarian needs” caused by the disaster of 2023, according to the International Rescue Committee.

Some of the most severely impacted villages in Kunar "remain inaccessible due to road blockages", the UN migration agency warned in a statement to AFP. Roads remained blocked nearly 20 hours after the earthquake, despite resident efforts to clear the way.

Jalalabad is a bustling trade city and key border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan. While municipality data shows the population is about 300,000, its metropolitan area is thought to be far larger. Most of its buildings are low-rise and built using concrete and brick.

In October 2023, an earthquake in Afghanistan's western province of Herat killed at least 2,400 people, the Taliban administration said.

Ravaged by four decades of war, Afghanistan is already contending with a humanitarian disaster.

With the return of the Taliban to power in 2021, foreign aid to Afghanistan has shrunk dramatically, undermining the already impoverished nation's ability to respond to natural disasters. Around 85 percent of the Afghan population lives on less than one dollar a day, according to the UN Development Programme.