Afghanistan: Earthquake kills 800, injures 2,500

At least 800 people have been killed and 2,500 injured after a magnitude 6 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan just before midnight local time. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed “full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake” and extended his “deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” wishing a “speedy recovery to those injured.” Government spokesman Mawlawi Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that the death toll in Kunar province has reached 800, with 2,500 others injured. He warned that the numbers could ri

At least 800 people have been killed and 2,500 injured after a magnitude 6 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan just before midnight local time. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed “full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake” and extended his “deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” wishing a “speedy recovery to those injured.” Government spokesman Mawlawi Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that the death toll in Kunar province has reached 800, with 2,500 others injured. He warned that the numbers could rise as rescue operations continue. TOLOnews reported that 35 helicopter flights have already taken place from Nangarhar airport to Kunar province, transporting 335 injured individuals to Nangarhar Regional Hospital. Afghanistan is highly prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. In 2023, more than 2,000 people were killed when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the western province of Herat. In 2022, a powerful quake hit eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 1,000 and injuring about 1,500. In 2015, another strong quake in the northeast killed more than 200 people in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. In 2002, a magnitude 6.1 quake claimed about 1,000 lives in northern Afghanistan, while in 1998, a magnitude 6.1 quake and subsequent tremors in the northeast killed at least 4,500 people.