At Least 250 Dead After 6.0-Magnitude Quake Rattles Eastern Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 250 people and injuring more than 530, according to the state-run Bakhtar News Agency. The tremor hit mountainous districts in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces near the border with Pakistan, flattening homes and triggering landslides that cut off winding roads just when they were needed most.
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Local officials warned the death toll could climb quickly as rescue teams struggle to reach remote valleys and hamlets. “The damage is significant, and many areas remain inaccessible,” a local official said. “People are still trapped under the rubble.” With communications patchy and access routes blocked by rockfall, much of the early search has relied on neighbors digging with shovels and bare hands — a familiar, harrowing tableau in a country that knows earthquakes too well.
Rescues Hampered by Landslides and Distance
In Kunar and Nangarhar, where steep, terraced hillsides give way to narrow river gorges, the shaking loosened cliff faces and sent boulders tumbling across dirt tracks, aid workers said. Ambulances and trucks ferrying supplies were forced to halt as dust and debris filled the air. Local hospitals, already fragile after years of underinvestment and conflict, reported being overwhelmed by the influx of wounded. Staff in several clinics appealed for painkillers, surgical equipment, and field tents to triage patients outside.
Afghan authorities have asked for urgent medical supplies and emergency assistance. Across the affected districts, families pushed wooden carts loaded with the injured toward the nearest health posts. It is a scene wrenchingly familiar to those who covered the June 2022 tremor in Paktika province, which killed more than 1,000 people, and last year’s string of earthquakes outside Herat, which brought down whole villages in minutes. In much of rural Afghanistan, homes are built of mud brick and timber — cool in summer, but catastrophically brittle under seismic stress.
Epicenter in a Restless Geological Zone
Afghanistan sits along the complex meeting point of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The Hindu Kush region is one of the world’s most seismically active inland zones, notorious for deep, powerful quakes that rattle cities hundreds of miles away. Sunday’s quake is the latest reminder that while earthquakes cannot be predicted, their toll is shaped by what comes before: building codes, access to services, governance, and the simple geography of who lives on the steepest slopes.
The source of the shaking was felt strongest in upland communities where mountain roads twist through ravines and villages cling to crumbly scree. In many places, the first hours after a quake are decisive. But reaching those first hours is often half the battle here. A rescue convoy can take most of a day to travel 50 kilometers in the best of times. When landslides turn roads to rubble, helicopters become lifelines — and those are in short supply.
A Country on Edge, Again
The quake struck as Afghans navigate a grinding humanitarian crisis. Aid groups have warned that chronic shortages of funding, restrictions on female aid workers in parts of the country, and a frayed public health system have eroded the capacity to respond to disasters. That reality magnifies the human cost of every shock — whether an earthquake in the east or floods in the north.
Afghanistan’s quakes often arrive with aftershocks that keep survivors on edge, sleeping in courtyards or under trees for fear that their cracked homes will crumble in the night. Sunday was no different. Local authorities reported multiple aftershocks and urged residents to remain cautious around damaged structures. The risk of secondary landslides is real, especially as loose earth shifts in the days ahead.
What We Know So Far
- Magnitude: 6.0, according to Afghan authorities.
- Location: Eastern Afghanistan, heavily affecting Kunar and Nangarhar provinces near the Pakistan border.
- Casualties: At least 250 dead and more than 530 injured, with the toll expected to rise.
- Infrastructure: Widespread damage to homes; landslides blocking critical roads; hospitals reporting shortages.
- Appeals: Authorities have called for urgent medical supplies, search-and-rescue support, and humanitarian aid.
Global Attention, Local Realities
For decades, Afghans have learned to live with disaster while waiting for help that doesn’t always arrive. The country has seen strides in community-led preparedness — villager networks that map landslide risks and identify safe gathering points — but these efforts are thinly spread. International search-and-rescue teams can make a difference in the first 72 hours, yet political sensitivities and logistical hurdles often slow deployments. Crossing alpine passes to reach a village at the end of a switchback road is a challenge even for seasoned responders.
The question for the global community is both immediate and long-term: How do you save lives today, and how do you reduce the number of lives at risk tomorrow? Investing in quake-resistant construction — even incremental steps like improved mortar and reinforced lintels for doorways and windows — can prevent catastrophic collapses. Training local builders, supporting early warning systems, and shoring up rural clinics may not make headlines, but they change outcomes when the earth shakes again. And in Afghanistan, it will.
“The Mountains Roared”
Afghans often describe earthquakes with a phrase that translates to “the mountains roared.” In the high valleys of Kunar and Nangarhar, that roar echoed at dawn, startling families awake, sending children under doorframes and parents scrambling for courtyards — the quick calculus of survival. By afternoon, a silence had settled, broken only by shovels scraping at debris and the call-and-response of neighbors searching for missing relatives.
As emergency teams fan out from provincial capitals, officials warn that some hamlets may remain cut off for days. The race is on to open roads, stabilize the injured, and deliver shelter to families who lost everything in seconds. Scenes of improvised stretchers and field dressings will soon be joined by the practical tasks of recovery: counting the displaced, repairing water lines, and planning where to rebuild — and how.
What to Watch Next
- Updated casualty figures as rescuers reach remote districts.
- Access: Progress in clearing landslides and reopening roads into the worst-hit areas.
- Aid response: Arrival of medical supplies and emergency shelter; coordination between Afghan authorities and aid agencies.
- Aftershocks: Continued seismic activity that could compound damage or trigger new landslides.
For families in the quake zone, tonight will be long. For the rest of the world, the question is how quickly help can move across mountains when minutes matter — and whether this disaster can nudge a broader commitment to build a safer future on unstable ground.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
