KABUL — At least 622 people have been killed and more than 1,500 injured after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday, authorities said, as helicopters rushed to evacuate the wounded and rescuers searched through flattened villages for survivors.
The 6.0-magnitude quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometers near the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, leveling mud and stone houses and leaving entire communities in ruins. Officials warned that the death toll could climb as rescuers reach remote areas.
Afghanistan’s Taliban-run interior ministry confirmed the current figures, while state broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan earlier reported about 500 deaths. Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said “figures from just a few clinics show over 400 injured and dozens of fatalities,” cautioning that the final number is expected to be higher.
Footage showed residents and soldiers carrying the wounded to ambulances while helicopters airlifted the most serious cases to hospitals. Three villages in Kunar province were completely destroyed, and many others suffered heavy damage, according to health officials.
Kunar’s provincial information chief, Najibullah Hanif, reported 250 deaths and 500 injuries in his province alone, though he noted the tally could change as assessments continue. In one village, authorities said at least 30 people were killed, with hundreds more injured.
Despite the scale of destruction, Afghanistan’s foreign office said no foreign governments have yet offered support for rescue or relief operations.
The country is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. Earthquakes are common in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. Last year, a series of quakes in western Afghanistan killed more than 1,000 people, highlighting the fragility of one of the world’s poorest nations in the face of repeated catastrophes.
