Rescuers Dig For Survivors As Afghan Quake Toll Tops 1,400

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- Rescuers are searching for survivors in the rubble of houses flattened by a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan late Sunday night that has killed more than 1,400 people so far, according to the latest update from the Taliban government.

“People are using shovels and even their bare hands to dig through the debris,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, head of disaster management in Kunar province that was hit the hardest, told Bloomberg News.

In regions where aircraft could not land, dozens of commando forces were airdropped to rescue the wounded and transfer them to safer locations, Hamdullah Fitrat, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, said in a post on X. He put the latest death toll at 1,411 and the number of injured at 3,124.

Over 5,400 houses have been destroyed, the post added, in the second major quake since 2023 in one of Asia's most earthquake-prone countries. The calamity adds to the misery of a nation already struggling with the mass return of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran, a failing health system, rampant joblessness and persistent food insecurity.

Most of the houses were made of mud and stone, according to the Afghan Red Crescent Society, an aid group working in the region. In remote villages, families clawed through rubble to reach survivors as walls pancaked and roofs caved in, erasing entire neighborhoods in seconds, Ehsan said.

“There are still a few remote villages, mostly in mountainous areas, where dead bodies or survivors are believed to be trapped under the rubble,” he added.

The 6.0 magnitude quake also triggered landslides that blocked mountain roads and buried parts of remote villages, cutting off access for rescuers. The Taliban government dispatched helicopters as part of the rescue effort.

Remote districts in Kunar such as Nurgal, Chawkay, Wadir and Shomash were hit the hardest, Ehsan said. The temblor also struck neighboring Nangarhar and Laghman provinces, with strong jolts felt in the Afghan capital about 124 miles from the epicenter and as far away as Pakistan, including Islamabad.

Afghanistan lies on a seismic fault where the Indian and Eurasian plates collide, and has suffered repeated natural disasters in recent decades that have devastated the remote east and northeast. Traditional mud-brick homes in these regions are especially vulnerable, crumbling under even moderate jolts.

In October 2023, a powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan, killing about 1,500 people and injuring 2,000, according to the UN.

More than half of the country's 42 million people need humanitarian aid, the UN says, even as relief groups warn of shrinking funds before winter sets in.

(Updates with latest death toll)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

MENAFN02092025007365015876ID1110006582