SRINAGAR: More than 259 people have been killed and over 500 have been injured in Afghanistan after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country on Monday, Taliban officials said, according to multiple media reports.
The earthquake struck 17 miles from the city of Jalalabad near the border with Pakistan around midnight local time (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday), according to the US Geological Survey.
Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.0 – 27 km ENE of Jalālābād, Afghanistan https://t.co/hE9lf5oIhx
— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) August 31, 2025
Because the earthquake hit a remote mountainous area, “it will take time to get the exact information about human losses and damage to the infrastructure,” said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Afghan Public Health Ministry, as per NBC news.
“We have launched a massive rescue operation and mobilized hundreds of people to help people in the affected areas,” Zaman said.
Afghanistan is especially prone to earthquakes as it sits on top of several fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet. The mountainous terrain of eastern Afghanistan is also prone to landslides, making it harder for emergency services to carry out rescues.
This quake was especially devastating as it hit at a shallow depth of 5 miles, making it far more destructive even at moderate magnitude.
