Deadly earthquake hits Afghanistan: What we know so far

A magnitude 6 earthquake has deed Afghanistan adjacent its borderline with Pakistan.

The decease toll from Sunday night’s catastrophe has risen to much than 800 people, according to the government. Flooding and debris person hampered rescue efforts.

Here is much astir what happened and wherefore Afghanistan is susceptible to earthquakes:

What happened?

At 11:47pm (19:47 GMT) connected Sunday, the earthquake shook Nangarhar and Kunar provinces successful eastbound Afghanistan. It was 8km (5 miles) deep, making it a shallow tremor.

Shallower earthquakes thin to origin much harm due to the fact that the epicentre of the quake and seismic waves are person to the Earth’s surface. Seismic waves from heavy earthquakes person to question a greater region to get to the surface, which causes them to suffer energy.

Twenty minutes aft the archetypal earthquake, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake deed northbound of Basawul successful Nangarhar province. Since then, aggregate tremors person struck adjacent the provincial capital, Jalalabad, and Basawul with magnitudes ranging from 4.3 to 5.2.

Where successful Afghanistan did the earthquake hit?

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the archetypal earthquake was centred 27km (17 miles) eastbound northeast of Jalalabad adjacent Kunar province, which is located conscionable northbound of Nangarhar.

Jalalabad is 150km (93 miles) eastbound of Kabul. It is simply a cardinal trading metropolis due to the fact that it is adjacent to neighbouring Pakistan. The metropolis is location to astir 300,000 people, according to the municipality.

The bulk of the city’s buildings are low-rise structures made chiefly from factual and ceramic portion the outskirts diagnostic houses constructed with mud bricks and wood.

Jalalabad besides is an cultivation producer. With the Kabul River flowing done the city, it grows citrus fruits and rice.

[Al Jazeera]

How galore radical person died, and however galore are injured?

The decease toll presently stands astatine 812, and much than 3,000 radical person been injured, Afghan authorities spokesperson Mawlawi Zabihullah Mujahid said .

Zabihullah said the casualties could emergence further arsenic rescue efforts proceed successful the mountainous area.

What does a magnitude 6 earthquake mean?

The strength of earthquakes is measured connected the Richter scale, which ranges from 1 to 10.

An earthquake of magnitude 6 is considered strong. Objects whitethorn fall, and houses whitethorn prolong damage.

What bash rescue efforts look like?

Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, said rescue operations are nether mode and respective villages person been destroyed.

Helicopters person transported “335 injured individuals to Nangarhar Regional Hospital”, Afghanistan’s TOLOnews tv web reported connected Monday.

The Ministry of Defence has dispatched 30 doctors and 800kg (1,764lb) of medicine to Kunar to assistance hospitals that are overwhelmed with casualties, according to the state-run Bakhtar quality agency.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his “full solidarity with the radical of Afghanistan” successful a station connected X  connected Monday.

Guterres continued: “The @UN squad successful Afghanistan is mobilized and volition spare nary effort to assistance those successful request successful the affected areas.”

I basal successful afloat solidarity with the radical of Afghanistan aft the devastating earthquake that deed the state earlier today.

I widen my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and privation a speedy betterment to those injured.

The @UN squad successful Afghanistan is mobilized…

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) September 1, 2025

Iran has besides offered humanitarian assistance.

“In these hard moments and large tragedy, portion expressing sincere condolences and solidarity with the large radical of Afghanistan and the bereaved families, the Islamic Republic of Iran announces its afloat readiness to nonstop relief, aesculapian and humanitarian aid,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, according to Iran’s Tasnim quality agency.

What is hindering rescue efforts?

Flash floods deed Nangarhar state connected Saturday, damaging roads and farmland.

Zakeria Shnizai, an earthquake geologist affiliated with the University of Oxford, explained that “due to the mountainous terrain successful Afghanistan, flooding has severely hampered rescue operations by blocking roads, destroying bridges and isolating communities successful the earthquake-affected area.”

“These challenges person made it highly hard for exigency teams to scope individuals who are injured oregon trapped nether debris. The usage of dense instrumentality has been restricted, and the hazard of landslides oregon stone avalanches has increased, arsenic already reported,” Shnizai said.

He added that the transportation of captious assistance specified arsenic food, h2o and aesculapian supplies has besides go harder, resulting successful delays successful effect times.

Injured Afghan children person attraction astatine a infirmary successful Jalalabad [Nasim Nazari/AFP]

“Research has shown that seasonal rains and upwind conditions tin intensify earthquake-induced vulnerabilities by triggering landslides, damaging entree routes and disrupting connection lines,” Abdullah Ansari, a probe prof astatine the Earthquake Monitoring Center astatine Sultan Qaboos University successful Muscat, Oman, told Al Jazeera.

“In the existent situation, floodwaters person blocked cardinal proscription corridors, complicating the transportation of assistance and slowing rescue teams. This enactment of seismic and hydrological hazards highlights the request for multihazard preparedness strategies to amended resilience successful Afghanistan.”

Besides the flash floods, rocky terrain and debris resulting from the earthquakes person hampered rescue efforts. “The roads are not paved. Mostly, they are covered with rocks due to the fact that of the earthquake, and it’s precise hard to spell determination close now,” Al Jazeera’s Mohsin Momand reported from Kabul.

Limited resources, mediocre infrastructure and a deficiency of broad early-warning systems impede timely evacuations and hazard mitigation, Ansari added.

Is Afghanistan prone to earthquakes?

Afghanistan is situated successful 1 of Central Asia’s astir seismically progressive zones wherever the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, starring to predominant mean to beardown earthquakes.

There has been caller seismic enactment successful Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush portion was struck by magnitude 5.6 and 5.2 tremors connected August 27 and August 19, respectively. Central Pakistan saw a magnitude 5.5 earthquake connected June 29 portion a magnitude 5.7 quake was recorded connected May 10.

In 2023, an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 deed Afghanistan’s occidental state of Herat, resulting successful the deaths of much than 2,000 people. In June 2022, a magnitude 6 earthquake deed eastbound Afghanistan’s provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost and Nangarhar.

(Al Jazeera)

“The ongoing convergence of these plates generates important crustal stress, causing galore faults and starring to predominant seismic enactment crossed the state and its surrounding regions,” Shnizai said.

“Several large responsibility systems traverse the country, including the Chaman, Herat, Kunar, Panjshir, Sarobi and Spin Ghar faults arsenic good arsenic thrust faults successful the Hindu Kush region.”

What is the latest concern connected the ground?

The road from Jalalabad to Kunar starring to the epicentre of the deadly earthquake has been reopened for traffic, Afghanistan’s RTA broadcaster reported, citing the Ministry of Public Works.

However, galore roads wrong Kunar stay inaccessible arsenic archetypal responders enactment to wide rubble, ministry spokesperson Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas said.