AFGHANISTAN-EARTHQUAKE

By Kimberly Kalusi

A powerful earthquake has killed more than 800 people in eastern Afghanistan, triggering frantic rescue operations in remote mountainous areas, Taliban officials said Monday.

According to AFP, the quake struck just before midnight, sending tremors as far as Kabul and Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that over 1.2 million people felt strong or very strong shaking.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reported that at least 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured in Kunar province, while Nangarhar province recorded 12 deaths and more than 250 injuries. Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani confirmed that hundreds of mud-brick houses had been destroyed.

The UN migration agency warned that several hard-hit villages in Kunar remain cut off due to blocked roads, complicating rescue efforts. The Afghan defence ministry said it had already carried out 40 flight sorties to deliver aid and evacuate survivors.

“There is a lot of fear and tension… women and children were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this before,” said Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad, an official in Kunar’s Nurgal district, who told AFP that many of the affected families were recent returnees from Iran and Pakistan.

The shallow quake struck at a depth of eight kilometres, about 27 kilometres from Jalalabad, the USGS reported. It was followed by at least five aftershocks, the strongest measuring magnitude 5.2.

The disaster comes as Afghanistan struggles with ongoing humanitarian crises, compounded by limited international aid since the Taliban’s return to power. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed condolences, pledging solidarity with the Afghan people.

Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region, which lies near the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. In recent years, the country has suffered several deadly tremors, including the 2022 Paktika quake that killed more than 1,000 people and the 2023 Herat disaster that left 1,500 dead and tens of thousands homeless.