The death toll from a 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan continues to rise, with over 800 people now reported dead, according to the Taliban government.
The figures were cited by AFP from a statement by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.
Speaking at a press conference in Kabul on Monday, Mujahid said that at least 800 people have died and more than 2,500 others were injured. The majority of casualties occurred in Kunar province, while Nangarhar province reported at least 12 deaths and 255 injuries.
Chinese news agency Xinhua, citing Afghanistan’s state media Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA), reported that rescue operations are ongoing in remote areas with limited communication. Officials noted that the current casualty figures are preliminary and may rise as relief efforts continue.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake struck at 12 a.m. local time on Sunday, about 17 miles from Jalalabad near the Pakistan border.
Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, said that the mountainous terrain has made it difficult to assess the full scale of casualties and infrastructure damage. Hundreds of personnel are engaged in ongoing rescue operations.
Afghanistan is highly prone to earthquakes as it lies at the junction of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The risk of landslides in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan further complicates rescue efforts. Experts have noted that the quake’s shallow depth of just five miles (8 kilometers) intensified its destructive impact. The BBC reported that at least three aftershocks, ranging from 4.5 to 5.2 in magnitude, were felt following the main tremor.
Local officials told the BBC that over 115 injured individuals from Nangarhar and Kunar have been admitted to hospitals.
The earthquake was felt for several seconds in Kabul, approximately 200 kilometers from the epicenter, and even in Islamabad, Pakistan, nearly 400 kilometers away.
This region has a history of destructive earthquakes. In 2022, a 5.9-magnitude shallow earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed nearly 1,000 people and injured several thousand others.
