Earthquake devastates eastern Afghanistan, killing hundreds and destroying villages

KABUL, Afghanistan — An earthquake destroyed numerous villages in eastern Afghanistan, killed at least 620 people and injured more than 1,300, a spokesman for the Taliban government said Monday.

The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit a series of towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangahar province, causing extensive damage.

Footage from Nangarhar showed people frantically digging through rubble with their hands, searching for loved ones in the dead of night. The injured were stretchered out of collapsed buildings and into helicopters. Villagers in Kunar gave interviews outside their wrecked homes.

The quake at 11:47 p.m. was centered 27 kilometers (17 miles) east-northeast of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was just 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani told The Associated Press that 610 people had been killed and 1,300 injured in Kunar and a dozen people died and hundreds were injured in Nangarhar. Many houses were destroyed.

Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made of mud bricks and wood. Many are of poor construction.

One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said almost the entire village had collapsed.

“Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble,” said the villager, who did not give his name. “We need help here,” he pleaded. “We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.”

Eastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas. The quake has worsened communications.

Rescue operations are underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesman.

Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that “the numbers were expected to change” as deaths and injuries are reported. The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said “all available resources will be utilized to save lives.”

Nearby Jalalabad is a bustling trade city due to its proximity with neighboring Pakistan and a key border crossing between the countries. Although it has a population of about 300,000 according to the municipality, it’s metropolitan area is thought to be far larger.

Jalalabad also has considerable agriculture and farming, including citrus fruit and rice, with the Kabul River flowing through the city.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake.

The U.N. gave a far lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.