Kabul: A devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck eastern Afghanistan, claiming the lives of more than 800 people so far. Reports confirm that at least 3,000 people have sustained injuries in this tragic event. The epicenter of the quake was located approximately 27 kilometres from Jalalabad, the country’s fifth-largest city, at a shallow depth of about 10 kilometres beneath the surface.
The tremor struck in the dead of night, causing many homes constructed primarily with mud and stone to collapse. The shockwaves extended nearly 400 kilometres, reaching as far as Islamabad, the capital of neighbouring Pakistan. The hardest-hit areas are remote mountainous regions, where mobile network coverage is minimal, complicating rescue efforts. Roads have been blocked by landslides, making ground access difficult. Helicopters have been deployed to airlift injured survivors to safer locations and search operations for those trapped under debris are ongoing.
The country has witnessed the calamity at a time when it is already grappling with severe humanitarian challenges. International aid has significantly dwindled, and many Afghan refugees are being sent back from neighbouring countries, worsening the plight of the people.
Initial official reports from Afghanistan’s state broadcaster, Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), indicated nearly 500 fatalities. Meanwhile, health officials in Kabul have confirmed that rescue teams are struggling to reach distant villages that have been repeatedly affected by earthquakes and floods in the past.
Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, told Reuters, “Data from only a few clinics show more than 400 injured and dozens dead.”
He warned that the death toll and injuries could rise as more information becomes available.
Footage aired by Reuters Television showed helicopters evacuating the injured, with local residents assisting soldiers and doctors in transporting casualties to ambulances. According to the Ministry of Health, three villages in Kunar province were completely destroyed and many others suffered heavy damage.
Najibullah Hanif, head of information for Kunar province, told the news agency that initial reports indicated 250 deaths and 500 injuries, though these numbers are subject to change. In one village alone, 30 people were confirmed dead, with hundreds of injured rushed to hospitals. Rescue workers have been active along the border areas with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, searching for survivors.
A spokesperson from the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that no foreign government has offered any assistance for relief and rescue operations so far. This is a grim reality for Afghanistan, a country frequently hit by deadly earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
In October 2023, a similar earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck Herat province in western Afghanistan, killing approximately 1,500 people. The quake’s shallow depth of around 14 kilometres contributed to its destructive impact. These recurring disasters highlight the extreme vulnerability of Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, to natural calamities.
From Kunar province, where the devastation is most severe, continuous reports of damage and suffering are emerging. A doctor who is the head of the provincial hospital in Asadabad, Kunar’s capital, has been working tirelessly throughout the night with his staff. He described the situation, saying, “A new patient arrives every five minutes”, and the hospital is overwhelmed with injured people. Among those brought in over the past hours were 188 injured, including women and children. Due to a shortage of beds, many patients had to be treated lying on the floor.
He has declared an emergency at the hospital due to the severity of the situation. Around 250 injured individuals have been transferred to the main hospital in the neighbouring Nangarhar province. So far, four bodies have been brought to the hospital, with dozens more taken to local clinics.
The earthquake has caused immense loss and suffering in a country already struggling to survive. Rescue and relief efforts continue amid challenging conditions, as hope remains for finding survivors beneath the rubble.