Massive Earthquake Devastates Afghanistan: Over 800 Killed, Thousands Injured, Says Taliban
A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake has devastated eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 800 people and injuring over 2,800, according to a statement from the Taliban-run government. The devastating overnight tremor struck at 11:47 pm local time, razing entire villages and triggering a massive rescue operation in the hardest-hit areas.
The quake’s epicentre was located in the Hindu Kush region at a depth of 160 km, with strong tremors felt across a wide area, including in neighboring Pakistan and parts of northern India, where residents in Delhi-NCR reported shaking. A series of powerful aftershocks, measuring up to 5.0 on the Richter scale, further compounded the destruction and terror. According to the Afghan Health Ministry, three villages in Kunar province were completely razed.
“Figures from just a few clinics show over 400 injured and dozens of fatalities,” said ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman, warning that the casualty numbers could rise sharply. The region’s vulnerable infrastructure, consisting largely of mud and stone homes, collapsed easily, trapping residents as they slept. As of Monday morning, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s foreign office confirmed that no foreign governments had formally offered assistance.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while returning from the SCO summit in China, expressed his grief and assured that India stands ready to provide all possible humanitarian aid to those affected. Afghanistan is located along a major seismic fault line, making it highly prone to deadly earthquakes. This latest tragedy follows a series of quakes in October 2023 that killed thousands, marking one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s recent history
