LONDON — A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck jap Afghanistan, destroying a number of villages, killing at the least 812 folks and injuring scores extra, in keeping with native officers.
The highly effective earthquake struck simply earlier than midnight on Sunday close to the border with Pakistan, with its epicenter about 17 miles east of Jalalabad, in keeping with preliminary information from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Virtually all the deaths had been in Kunar Province, the place 800 folks had been killed and one other 2,500 folks had been injured, officers mentioned in a press release shared by Zabihullah Mujahid, a authorities spokesperson.
One other dozen folks had been killed in Nangarhar Province, mentioned Mufti Abdul Matin Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Inside. A minimum of 255 had been injured in that province, officers mentioned.
Afghan injured kids obtain remedy at a hospital after an earthquake in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad on September 1, 2025.
Aimal Zahir/AFP through Getty Photos
In a telephone interview with ABC Information, Shah Mehmood, a Taliban authorities official in Nangahar Province mentioned extra individuals are feared trapped underneath rubble in distant villages.
Lethal earthquakes have struck Afghanistan a number of occasions lately, together with a 5.9 magnitude quake in June 2022 and a 6.3 magnitude one in October 2023. The dying toll for every of these quakes rose to over 1,000 folks, native officers mentioned of their aftermaths.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan mentioned in a press release on Monday that its native staffers had been “deeply saddened” by the devastating quake, which “claimed a whole bunch of lives, injuring many extra.”
Individuals carry an earthquake sufferer on a stretcher to an ambulance at an airport in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sept. 1, 2025.
Stringer/Reuters
The Afghan well being minister mentioned that a number of villages within the Nurgal district of Kunar — together with Sholt, Arit, Mamagal, Wadir and others — had been all however destroyed. Others suffered important injury, the minister mentioned.
Among the injured had been evacuated and rescue efforts had been ongoing, the ministry mentioned.
“Sadly, tonight’s earthquake has prompted lack of life and property injury in a few of our jap provinces,” Mujahid mentioned in a submit on social media.
Mujahid mentioned help groups from close by provinces had been dispatched to the realm.
The Ministry of Protection mentioned a 10-member crew flew some 40 flights out of the realm, carrying 420 folks to hospitals, together with the Daoud Khan Navy Hospital. The Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Authority mentioned a convoy carrying response groups was en path to the affected areas in Kunar.
The U.N. Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan started coordinating with different worldwide businesses after the quake, saying its “companions are on the bottom initiating quick reduction efforts.”
On this picture launched by the Nangarhar Media Middle, stretchers and ambulances are ready to obtain victims of an earthquake that killed a whole bunch and destroyed quite a few villages in jap Afghanistan, at Nangarhar Airport in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025.
AP
The U.N. would “spare no effort to help these in want within the affected areas,” Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres mentioned.
“I stand in full solidarity with the folks of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake that hit the nation earlier at this time,” he mentioned on social media. “I prolong my deepest condolences to the households of the victims and want a speedy restoration to these injured.”
Rescue efforts by native officers had been ongoing, with 200 Taliban troopers deployed to help in retrieving survivors, Mehmood mentioned. Two helicopters and 30 ambulances had been additionally getting used within the rescue operations.
The Taliban official added that among the many worst-hit areas are Nurgal and Siringal in Kunar Province, in addition to a number of villages in Shaman District, which have been utterly destroyed. Darr-e-Nur in Nangarhar Province has additionally sustained important injury.
Mehmood famous that reaching out to a number of the affected areas stays troublesome as a result of communication blackouts and poor cell service protection.
ABC Information’ Will Gretsky and Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
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