NURGAL, Afghanistan, Sept 2 —
As the sun rose over the eastern valleys of Afghanistan on Monday morning, it revealed a scene of heartbreak and devastation. More than 800 people have been confirmed dead and thousands injured after a powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck late Sunday night, shaking the foundations of life in Kunar province and beyond.
The earthquake hit just before midnight, catching most families in their sleep. Built from mud and stone, homes crumbled into dust in an instant. Entire villages were flattened, and survivors were left to dig through the rubble with their bare hands, desperately hoping to find loved ones still alive.
In Nurgal district, 22-year-old Zafar Khan Gojar recounted the horrifying moment his house collapsed. “The rooms and walls just gave in. Some children didn’t survive… my brother’s leg was broken,” he said. The two were among those evacuated to hospitals in nearby Jalalabad by rescue helicopters.
Throughout the night, families gathered what little they had—shrouds and prayers—as they laid their loved ones to rest. Children, women, and elderly alike were lost, with some buried before dawn as grief hung heavy in the air.
According to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, over 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured in Kunar alone. The toll may rise as entire communities remain buried under debris. Ehsanullah Ehsan, head of disaster management in the region, warned, “Many people are stuck under the rubble of their roofs.”
In Nangarhar province, another 12 lives were lost and 255 people injured. Laghman province reported 58 injuries. Some of the most affected areas are still unreachable, with landslides and damaged roads blocking access, further slowing rescue and aid efforts.
Afghanistan, already one of the world’s poorest countries, is no stranger to tragedy. Years of war, political instability, and economic collapse have left millions vulnerable. Over 4 million Afghans have recently returned home from Iran and Pakistan, many settling in remote areas now devastated by the quake.
“There is a lot of fear and tension. Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this,” said Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad, from Nurgal’s agriculture department.
The United Nations has stepped in, allocating US$5 million from its emergency fund to assist survivors. “We are working with authorities to assess needs and provide emergency aid,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
But this assistance comes amidst a dire funding crisis. Humanitarian aid for Afghanistan was drastically reduced in early 2025. The United States, once the largest donor, cut nearly all its funding, and the UN has had to scale back its global operations due to record funding gaps.
This earthquake is just the latest in a series of deadly tremors. In October 2023, Herat province saw over 1,500 deaths from a 6.3-magnitude quake. The year before, Paktika suffered a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that killed over 1,000 and left tens of thousands homeless.
Afghanistan sits on a dangerous fault line—the Hindu Kush mountain range—where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. Shallow quakes like this one tend to be especially devastating due to the fragile construction of homes in the region.
As families mourn their dead and pray for the missing, the world is once again reminded of Afghanistan’s fragile state. A nation scarred by war and abandoned by aid now faces yet another test of its strength.
