Aftershocks of sorrow: Inside the aftermath of Afghanistan's deadly 6.0 earthquake that killed over 800, injured 2500

A 6.0-magnitude quake struck just before midnight on Sunday (Aug 31), leaving more than 800 people dead in Afghanistan. Among the worst hit was Kunar province, which borders Pakistan. According to reports, apart from those killed in the devastating quake, over 2,500 have been injured.

Survivors of a powerful earthquake that flattened villages in eastern Afghanistan spent Monday night in the open, huddled together as rescuers searched through the wreckage.

Entire families were buried under collapsed mud and stone homes built along the steep valleys. Villagers wrapped the dead, including children, in white shrouds and offered prayers before burying them. Helicopters ferried the wounded to hospitals as rescue teams tried to reach remote villages.

"The rooms and walls collapsed... killing some children and injuring others," said 22-year-old Zafar Khan Gojar. He was evacuated from Nurgal to Jalalabad with his injured brother, who suffered a broken leg.

Many survivors described scenes of panic as homes crumbled around them. "There is a lot of fear and tension... Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this in our lives," said Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad, an agriculture department worker in Nurgal, told AFP.

The epicentre was located about 27 kilometres from Jalalabad, at a shallow depth of eight kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey. Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that around 800 people were killed and 2,500 were injured in Kunar alone. Another 12 people died in Nangarhar province, while dozens more were injured in Laghman.

Rescuers warned the toll could rise as many villages remain cut off due to blocked roads. The UN migration agency said some of the worst-hit areas were still inaccessible.

The United Nations released an initial $5 million from its emergency fund and said it was ready to scale up assistance. We must "swiftly assess needs, provide emergency assistance and stand ready to mobilise additional support," UN chief Antonio Guterres said.

The aid outlook, however, looks bleak. The United States, once Afghanistan's largest donor, slashed almost all assistance in early 2025 after President Donald Trump took office. In June, the UN had warned of unprecedented cuts to its global humanitarian operations due to "deepest funding cuts ever".

Afghanistan’s vulnerability made the disaster worse. According to AFP, most families live in low-rise, mud-brick homes that collapse easily in quakes. Years of war, economic collapse, and cuts to foreign aid have left the country unable to respond to disasters at scale.

The quake comes on top of repeated natural calamities. In October 2023, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Herat killed more than 1,500 people. In 2022, another quake in Paktika killed over 1,000.

Afghanistan sits on a tectonic fault line and is frequently hit by earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range.