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06-09-2025
KABUL: A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Afghanistan’s remote south-eastern region on Thursday night, the third quake in six days, as the death toll from the first continued to rise.
The shallow quake hit at 20:56 local time (15:36 GMT) and sent people in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces scampering out of shelters in fear.
There was no immediate official report of casualties from Thursday night’s earthquake but medics on the ground told media that 17 wounded people were brought to Kunar Provincial Hospital.
Sunday’s quake has killed 1,368 people and wounded 2,180 others, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) said, citing reports from 25 villages.
The region’s rough and mountainous terrain continues to hamper rescue and disaster relief operations, the government said.
A second earthquake of magnitude 5.5 on Tuesday temporarily halted rescue operations, which have mostly been conducted by helicopters as debris from landslides cuts off access to remote villages.
There have also been a steady stream of aftershocks.
“Rescue and search efforts are still ongoing, tents have been set up for people in various areas and the delivery of first aid and emergency supplies is ongoing,” Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, said on social media.
The Taliban government which is only recognized by Russia has appealed for international help. The UN has released emergency funds, while the UK has pledged £1m ($1.3m) in aid.
Afghanistan is very prone to earthquakes because of its location on top of a number of fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
In 2023, more than 1,400 people died after a series of 6.3-magnitude earthquakes hit western Afghanistan, near the city of Herat.
The year before that, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring another 3,000.
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake has struck Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern region, with authorities saying hundreds of people have been killed.
The quake hit at 23:47 local time on Sunday (19:17 GMT) with its epicentre 27km (17 miles) away from Jalalabad, the country’s fifth-largest city, in eastern Nangarhar province. It was shallow, only 8km deep and was felt 140km away in the capital, Kabul, as well as in neighboring Pakistan. Hundreds of people are thought to have died. The initial quake was followed by a number of large aftershocks, which are thought to have caused further deaths.
Details are still emerging and it could be some time before the extent of the damage and number of deaths is known.
Initial reports indicate significant casualties and widespread damage across parts of the far western Nangarhar and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.
These mountainous areas are extremely challenging to reach even at the best of times, which is hampering rescue and relief operations.
More than 800 people are feared dead, the Taliban’s interior ministry has said, but warns that there is still no clear death toll. There are reports that hundreds more have been injured.
Media has been told that the road leading to the epicentre has been blocked because of a landslide, so the Taliban government is using helicopters to get people out. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
