More than 800 dead as 6.0 earthquake flattens Afghan villages
By isabelle // 2025-09-01
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  • A 6.0-magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan flattened villages, killing more than 800 and injuring 2,500, leaving survivors trapped under rubble.
  • Shallow tremors, aftershocks, and floods worsened destruction in remote mountainous areas, blocking rescue efforts and displacing thousands ahead of winter.
  • Hospitals overflow with wounded as families dig through debris by hand, with mud-brick homes reduced to ruins and no foreign aid in sight.
  • The Taliban’s isolation and decades of abandonment have left Afghans to face the crisis alone, with the UN warning this disaster eclipses last year’s Herat quakes.
  • Locals rally with blood donations and volunteer relief, but without global intervention, freezing temperatures and collapsed infrastructure threaten mass suffering.
When the ground shook late Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, Muhammad Aziz’s world collapsed... literally. The 6.0-magnitude quake flattened his village in Kunar province, burying his five children and five other relatives under the rubble of their mud-brick home. By dawn, he stood amid the wreckage, his voice breaking as he told reporters, “The poor people in this area have lost everything. There is death in every home, and beneath the rubble of each roof, there are dead bodies.” This isn’t just another disaster in a war-torn land. It’s a catastrophe layered atop decades of abandonment—where foreign aid has dried up, where homes are built from little more than dirt and hope, and where the Taliban’s isolation has left Afghans to fend for themselves. With more than 800 confirmed dead and 2,500 injured, the quake has exposed the brutal fragility of life in a country the world has forgotten.

A disaster waiting to happen

The earthquake struck 17 miles northeast of Jalalabad, a key trade hub near the Pakistan border, but its epicenter was in Kunar, a rugged, mountainous region where villages cling to steep slopes. At just five miles deep, the quake was considered shallow, meaning its destructive energy rippled violently through the surface. Shallow quakes have a tendency to cause more damage, and this one was no exception. Entire villages in Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi, and Chapadare districts were “completely destroyed,” according to Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s ministry of public health. Compounding the tragedy, a 4.5-magnitude aftershock hit 20 minutes later, followed by flooding that had already killed five people in Nangarhar province the night before. Rescue teams now face a nightmare: landslides blocking roads, aftershocks threatening further collapses, and remote terrain where helicopters are the only lifeline. “The location is very remote and mountainous, which makes rescue efforts particularly challenging,” said Jeremy Smith of the British Red Cross. “Sadly, people will be displaced for a long period into the winter as homes have been destroyed.”

"People are desperately seeking help"

The images emerging from Kunar are apocalyptic. A man carries a bloodied child to a military helicopter. Families dig through rubble with their bare hands. Hospitals in Jalalabad overflow with the wounded, while blood donation lines stretch out the doors. “The mud houses have been wiped away, and destruction is everywhere,” Aziz said. "People are desperately seeking help.” His story is one of hundreds—perhaps thousands—still unfolding. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the grim toll: 800 dead in Kunar alone, with another 12 killed in neighboring Nangarhar. But even these numbers are fluid. “The figures for martyrs and injured are changing,” Zaman admitted, as reports trickle in from cut-off villages. The United Nations had already warned that “significant casualties” were likely, given the region’s vulnerable infrastructure. Most homes here are made of mud brick and wood, which is no match for a quake of this force. The international response so far? Silence. “So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,” a foreign office spokesperson admitted. The Red Cross and Red Crescent are rushing in medical supplies, trauma care, and food, but with winter approaching, time is running out. Without shelter, thousands face freezing temperatures in the coming months. As rescue helicopters ferry the injured to Jalalabad, the scale of the crisis is sinking in. The IRC warns this disaster will “dwarf” last year’s Herat earthquakes. “We are profoundly fearful for the additional strain this will have on the overall humanitarian response,” Ibrahim said. Yet amid the devastation, there are flickers of resilience. Locals donate blood in droves. Volunteers from the Afghan Red Crescent Society rush to distribute medicine and food. But without international support, their efforts may not be enough. Afghanistan’s suffering didn’t start with this earthquake, and it won’t end with it. The country has been hollowed out by war, drought, and neglect. Now, as families bury their dead and survivors shiver in the ruins of their homes, one question hangs in the air: Will anyone help? The earth may have stopped shaking, but for the people of Kunar, the nightmare has only just begun.   Sources for this article include: DailyMail.co.uk NYTimes.com TheGuardian.com
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