Afghanistan earthquake: Over 600 dead, 1500 injured as deadly quake jolts Kabul, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

A powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan has killed at least 622 people and injured more than 1,500, officials said on Monday, as helicopters airlifted the wounded and rescuers searched collapsed homes for survivors.

The 6.0-magnitude quake has shaken a country already struggling with humanitarian crises, including falling international aid and the return of Afghan citizens from neighbouring nations.

The Taliban-run interior ministry confirmed the death toll at 622. Earlier, state broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) had reported around 500 deaths. In Kabul, health authorities said rescue teams were racing to reach remote mountain villages that often suffer in such disasters.

“Figures from just a few clinics show over 400 injured and dozens of fatalities,” ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said, warning that casualties could rise further.

Footage from Reuters Television showed helicopters evacuating victims, while residents joined soldiers and medics in carrying the wounded to ambulances.

In Kunar province, three villages were completely destroyed, while many others reported heavy damage, the health ministry said. “Reports showed 250 dead and 500 injured,” said Najibullah Hanif, the provincial information head of Kunar, adding that the tally could change.

Early reports from one village alone showed 30 deaths, with hundreds rushed to hospitals, officials said.

Rescue teams are struggling to find survivors in the quake-hit region, which borders Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Many homes of mud and stone collapsed when the quake hit at midnight, just 10 km (6 miles) below the surface.

“So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,” a foreign office spokesperson said.

Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. Last year, a series of quakes in its west killed more than 1,000 people, highlighting the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters.