Afghanistan Earthquake Kills 800 as Villages Reduced to Rubble

• Sep 01, 2025

More than 800 people have been confirmed dead after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday night, collapsing homes onto sleeping families and devastating entire villages. Rescue teams warned that the death toll is likely to rise as operations continue.

The 6.0-magnitude quake struck just before midnight, rattling buildings as far as Kabul and Islamabad, Pakistan. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the epicentre was located about 27 kilometres from Jalalabad, at a shallow depth of eight kilometres—making it particularly destructive for the region’s fragile mud-brick homes.

The hardest-hit area was Kunar province, where Taliban officials reported around 800 deaths and 2,500 injuries. Nearby Nangarhar province recorded 12 deaths and more than 250 injuries, while dozens more were hurt in Laghman. Many survivors were rushed to hospitals in Jalalabad.

In villages such as Wadir in Kunar’s Nurgal district, residents joined rescuers in digging through rubble with bare hands to reach trapped families. “The rooms and walls collapsed... killing some children and injuring others,” said survivor Zafar Khan Gojar, who was evacuated along with his injured brother.

Relief efforts have been hampered by blocked roads, leaving several villages inaccessible nearly 20 hours after the quake. The International Organization for Migration warned that badly affected areas remain cut off despite efforts to clear routes. Witnesses described scenes of panic. “There is a lot of fear and tension. Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this in our lives,” said local official Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad.

International leaders, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Pope Leo XIV, expressed condolences. Afghan cricketers also observed a moment of silence before a T20 match in Sharjah.

Afghanistan is no stranger to deadly quakes. In October 2023, a 6.3-magnitude tremor in Herat province killed over 1,500 people, while a 2022 quake in Paktika left more than 1,000 dead. Experts say the country’s mountainous terrain, fragile housing, and proximity to tectonic fault lines make it highly vulnerable.

Already grappling with poverty and limited resources, Afghanistan’s response capacity remains severely weakened by reduced international aid since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover. According to the UN, about 85 percent of Afghans survive on less than one dollar a day, making recovery from such disasters especially difficult.