Aid workers are racing to a remote area of Afghanistan with emergency, food, and medical supplies following an earthquake that flattened villages and killed hundreds of people.
Taliban authorities have reported at least 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near the city of Jalalabad close to the Pakistan border.
The disaster comes at a time when the impoverished country struggles with cut backs in international aid over seizing of power by the Taliban and the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries.
"The villages there are built in a way that the homes are basically in a stepped terrace situation," Salam Al-Janabi, the UNICEF spokesman in Kabul, told RFE/RL.
"It means these homes are toppling on top of each other. And this is why we're seeing such large numbers of casualties."
In Nangahar's Darah Noor district, residents told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that tremors were still being felt on September 1, following the quake that occurred just before midnight.
“We urgently need tents and immediate assistance for the injured in the hospital for treatment," Shad Noor Mazloomyar said.
"We have no food, and everything has been destroyed, our homes, equipment, and kitchens. Nothing is left.”
Another Nangarhar resident, 35-year-old Shukrullah Halim, said "People’s homes have been destroyed."
"Everything has been leveled to the ground. There is an urgent need to deliver health kits to the people and to provide food and essential household supplies," he added.
Al-Janabi said "at the moment you have all UN agencies in Afghanistan surging over there," and that some 600 homes were destroyed.
"Where are these families staying? Where are these children staying? Maybe it will be fine for just now to stay under a tent...within the next three weeks it's going to get colder in this area very soon."
Video posted on social media showed people desperately digging through rubble, trying to reach people trapped underneath.
Injured survivors were being airlifted from the remote, mountainous region by helicopter. Taliban officials said the terrain made it difficult to get aid and emergency workers to the scene.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban government, warned that the death toll was expected to rise. Speaking at a news conference in Kabul, he said there were some 800 fatalities in Kunar Province and 12 people killed in Nangarhar Province.
Afghanistan is often hit by earthquakes, with the last one in October 2023. In that case, the death toll rose steadily as emergency work continued. The Taliban gave a final figure of 4,000 dead, although the United Nations said the figure was around 1,500.
The latest quake struck around 11:45 p.m. on August 31 and was centered some 27 kilometers northeast of Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGA).
Modelling by the USGA earlier suggested the estimated number of deaths could reach into the hundreds of people.
The USGA said the quake was 8 kilometers deep, a relatively shallow level that often causes greater damage than deeper temblors.
A 4.5-magnitude quake struck in the region some 20 minutes later, followed by another aftershock of 5.2 magnitude, according to the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ).
Residents of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad -- more than 300 kilometers away -- reported feeling buildings shaking.
"Unfortunately, tonight’s earthquake has had human casualties and financial damage in some of our eastern provinces,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X.
“Local officials and residents are making all the efforts to rescue affected ones. Support teams from the capital and nearby provinces are also on their way. All available resources will be used for the rescue and relief of the people,” he added.
Residents of Kabul -- about 100 kilometers away -- also were shaken.
The quake comes after Nangarhar Province was hit by heavy flooding over the weekend that killed at least five people and destroyed crops and property.
Afghanistan, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, is often impacted by earthquakes. Casualty tolls are over exacerbated because of poor building standards, remote locations, and the difficulty of getting assistance to victims.
