Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands left injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern region on Sunday, officials said, with rescuers scrambling to reach hard-hit, remote communities.
At least 800 people were killed and more than 2,000 others injured in the Kunar province, near the Pakistan border, according to the Afghan Press Club, citing an Afghan government spokesperson.
Rescue workers and security forces have been mobilized in several districts of the mountainous region, but authorities say the death toll could rise further.
Relief teams have struggled to reach some of the more remote communities and their progress has been hampered by landslides and destroyed roads, reported the Taliban’s state-run Bakhtar News Agency (BNA).
Video from Reuters shows injured people rescued from the quake being pulled from a helicopter on stretchers at a military base in Jalalabad. Other images from the city show casualties lying on beds and being treated at hospital.
The earthquake hit just before midnight, 27 kilometers (16.77 miles) north-east of Jalalabad, a city of about 200,000 people in Nangarhar Province, and at a comparatively shallow depth of 8km (4.97 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
“The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site,” health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.
Nearly half a million people likely felt strong to very strong shaking, which can result in considerable damage to poorly built structures, according to the USGS.
Ahmad Zameer, 41, a resident in Kabul, told CNN the earthquake was strong and jolted his neighborhood more than 100 miles from the epicenter. He added that everyone from the nearby apartment buildings rushed to the street in fear of being trapped inside.
“Unfortunately, tonight’s earthquake has had human casualties and financial damages in some of our eastern provinces,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X.
“Right now, local officials and residents are making all the efforts to rescue affected ones. Support teams from the capital and nearby provinces are also on their way. All available resources will be used for the rescue and relief of the people,” he added.
The earthquake was also felt in several cities in neighboring Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said in a statement.
The region was hit by at least five aftershocks, the strongest measuring 5.2-magnitude in the hours after the initial quake, according to USGS.
The earthquake comes as the Taliban-ruled country is in the throes of hunger and economic crises, with deep cuts to international humanitarian aid and the termination of over $1.7 billion worth of American aid contracts supporting dozens of programs in Afghanistan exacerbating food and medical shortages.
The United Nations in Afghanistan said it was “deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake that struck the eastern region and claimed hundreds of lives,” adding that its teams are delivering emergency assistance on the ground.
Afghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, many of which happen in the mountainous Hindu Kush region that borders Pakistan. In October 2023, more than 2,000 people died after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan – one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in recent years.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Mick Krever contributed reporting.
