Afghanistan Earthquake - Monday, 1 September 2025

At least 622 people have been killed and more than 1,500 injured after a magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan shortly before midnight local time. Helicopters were dispatched to airlift the wounded to safety as rescue teams combed through collapsed mud-and-stone homes in remote villages of Nangarhar and Kunar provinces.

The United States Geological Survey recorded the quake at 11:47 pm AFT (19:17 UTC), estimating its hypocentre at a shallow depth of 10 km, which intensified shaking across the mountainous region. Aftershocks measuring up to 4.5 magnitude continued to rattle the area through Monday morning.

Provincial health officials reported that three villages in Kunar province were completely destroyed, with entire hamlets reduced to rubble. Najibullah Hanif, Kunar’s information director, said initial counts indicated 250 deaths and 500 injuries in those villages alone, but stressed that figures were likely to rise as teams reached harder-to-access settlements. In Nangarhar province, authorities confirmed at least nine fatalities and dozens of injuries caused by collapsing roofs and falling debris.

No international governments have yet offered formal assistance, according to a spokesperson from the Taliban-run foreign ministry. The quake follows a devastating 2023 tremor that claimed up to 4,000 lives, underscoring Afghanistan’s vulnerability as it sits atop multiple active fault lines in the Hindu Kush mountain range.