Earthquake Kills Hundreds in Afghanistan

At least 800 people were killed and over 1500 others were injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late Sunday (August 31), provincial officials and US seismologists said.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres (six miles), was located 27 kilometres east-northeast of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake struck at 11:47 pm (1917 GMT), USGS said.

The quake shook buildings from Kabul to Pakistan's capital Islamabad, around 370 kilometres away, for several seconds, AFP journalists said.

Tremors were felt in several states in North India, including Delhi.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

Nangarhar province was also hit by flooding overnight Friday to Saturday, which left five people dead and destroyed crops and property, provincial authorities said.

Rescuers were scrambling to find survivors in the area bordering Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, where homes of mud and stone were levelled by the midnight quake hit at a depth of 10 km (6 miles). "So far, no

foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work," a foreign office spokesperson told Reuters.

Prime Minister expressed condolences with victims' families. "Deeply saddened by the loss of lives due to the earthquake in Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families in this difficult hour, and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured. India stands ready to provide all possible humanitarian aid and relief to those affected," Modi posted on X.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on October 7, 2023, along with strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated that at least 4,000 perished.

The UN gave a far lower figure of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.