Rescuers searched into the night for survivors on Monday after the 6.0 magnitude quake struck on Sunday, destroying entire villages across the country’s eastern Kunar province which borders Pakistan.
Many remained trapped under the debris of mud and stone homes built into steep valleys but rescuers struggled to reach remote areas due to rough mountainous terrain and inclement weather. It was a shallow earthquake, taking place just six miles beneath the earth’s surface, which is known to have a particularly destructive impact.
The quake killed 812 people across the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said. Authorities said they expected casualties to rise further once rescue teams reached more isolated locations, many of which remained inaccessible more than 24 hours after the earthquake struck.
Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for the health ministry in Kabul, called for international aid to tackle the devastation wrought by the quake that struck at around midnight local time.
“We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses,” he said.
The earthquake hit at a time when Afghanistan is already suffering from a severe economic crisis and a crippling withdrawal of international aid, following the takeover of the country by the Taliban in 2021. Hardline Taliban policies, such as a ban on female education and employment, have spurred on a sharp drop in international aid funding and humanitarian assistance to the country.
The disaster will further stretch the resources of the war-torn nation’s Taliban administration, which is also grappling with the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghans deported by Iran and Pakistan in recent weeks.
