KABUL − One of Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquakes has killed more than 800 people and injured at least 2,800, authorities said on Sept. 1. Helicopters have been taking the injured to hospitals after rescuers pulled them from the rubble of collapsed homes.
The disaster is expected to put more pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban administration, which is already struggling with humanitarian problems, including reduced aid and the return of hundreds of thousands of Afghans from neighboring countries.
Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the health ministry in Kabul, asked for international help to deal with the damage caused by the magnitude 6 quake that struck around midnight at a depth of 6 miles.
“We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses,” he told Reuters.
The quake killed 812 people in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, according to administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
Rescuers are working to reach remote mountainous areas near the Pakistani border, where mudbrick homes collapsed and mobile networks are down.
“All our … teams have been mobilized to accelerate assistance, so that comprehensive and full support can be provided,” said health ministry spokesperson Abdul Maten Qanee, mentioning help with security, food, and health.
Reuters Television showed helicopters taking people out of the affected areas, while residents helped carry the injured to ambulances. The region has a long history of earthquakes and floods.
Military rescue teams spread out across the region, the defense ministry said in a statement, with 40 flights transporting 420 wounded and dead.
The quake destroyed three villages in Kunar and caused heavy damage in many others. Authorities said at least 610 people died in Kunar and 12 in Nangarhar.
This is Afghanistan’s third major deadly quake since the Taliban took control in 2021, after foreign forces left, which also cut international funding that made up most of the government’s finances.
Even humanitarian aid, which aims to meet urgent needs without relying on political institutions, has fallen to $767 million this year, down from $3.8 billion in 2022.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in 2022 killed 1,000 people in eastern Afghanistan. It was the first major natural disaster faced by the Taliban government.
Calls for Funding
Humanitarian groups say they are dealing with a largely forgotten crisis in Afghanistan. The United Nations estimates that more than half of the population urgently needs aid.
Diplomats and aid officials say that crises in other countries, along with donor frustration over Taliban policies toward women—including restrictions on female aid workers—have caused the cuts in funding.
“So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,” a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s foreign office said.
China said it is ready to provide disaster relief help “according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity,” a spokesperson for its foreign ministry said.
In a post on X, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the U.N. mission in Afghanistan is preparing to help people in the areas affected by the quake.
Humanitarian officials and locals say that almost two years after a powerful tremor hit the western city of Herat, many villages are still recovering and people are living in temporary shelters.
Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountains, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
