Afghanistan has been shaken by a powerful magnitude 6.0 earthquake, killing hundreds and injuring over a thousand people.
According to Al Jazeera, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported that Afghanistan’s eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar were jolted by a powerful magnitude 6 around midnight local time (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday).
The epicentre of the quake, which has a shallow depth of 8 km, was approximately 17 miles from the eastern city of Jalalabad near the border with Pakistan.
Afghan government spokesman Mawlawi Zabihullah Mujahid during a news conference on Monday afternoon announced that the death toll from the earthquake in Kunar has now hit 800, while the number of injured people has been raised to over 2,500.
The death toll has been continuously rising since the morning of September 1. The Taliban government feared that fatalities could reach 4,000, while the United Nations estimated around 1,500 deaths.
Why do earthquakes frequently hit Afghanistan?
Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes because of its geographical location, but the infrastructure makes these quakes deadly and catastrophic, like the recent one.
The landlocked country is situated near the intersection of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which makes it a hotspot for seismic activity.
The mountainous terrain of the country, especially the Hindu Kush range, is prone to earthquakes amid the ongoing collision between these two plates.
Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquake in the last 10 years:
• August 21, 2025, magnitude 6 earthquake: killed 800, injured 2,500 (so far)
• October 7, 2024, magnitude 6.3 earthquake: At least 2,445 killed
• March 21, 2023, magnitude 6.5 earthquake: At least 13 killed
• September 05, 2022, two earthquakes of magnitude 5.1 and magnitude 4.6: At least eight killed
• June 22, 2022, magnitude 6.1 earthquake: At least 1,036 killed
• January 17, 2022, magnitude 5.3 earthquake: At least 26 killed
• October 26, 2015, magnitude 7.5 earthquake: At least 117 killed
