CaliToday (): Taliban leaders in Afghanistan have issued an urgent appeal for international assistance after a powerful earthquake killed over a thousand people and flattened entire villages, compounding the misery in a war-torn nation already grappling with food shortages and drastic cuts in foreign aid.
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| Volunteers and emergency crews tend to injured survivors in the Mazar Dara village, eastern Afghanistan, on September 1, after a powerful earthquake struck the South Asian country overnight Sunday. - Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images |
At least 1,411 people have been killed and 3,124 others injured after a major 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck towns and villages near the Pakistani border on Sunday, with strong aftershocks felt as far as Kabul, according to a statement Tuesday from Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. The devastating quake also destroyed more than 5,400 homes, Mujahid added.
Rescue efforts are being severely hampered as heavy rains, landslides, and damaged roads make it incredibly difficult for relief teams to reach the remote, mountainous regions hit hardest by the quake.
Meanwhile, recent cuts in U.S. aid have weakened relief efforts in a country that has seen a precipitous drop in global assistance since the Taliban seized power in 2021, imposing harsh rules and punishments on its 43 million people.
Here is what we know about the earthquake and the rescue operations.
What happened?
The earthquake struck just before midnight on Sunday, with its epicenter located 27 kilometers (16.77 miles) northeast of Jalalabad, a bustling city of around 200,000 people in Nangarhar province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The region is mountainous and known for its seismic activity.
The quake was relatively shallow, occurring at a depth of about 8 kilometers (4.97 miles), the USGS reported. Shallow earthquakes are often more destructive.
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| An Afghan boy carries a baby's shrouded body through the ruins of a damaged house of the Mazar Dara village, in the hard-hit Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan, on Monday. - Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images |
Reuters, citing local authorities, reported that the quake devastated the neighboring province of Kunar, leveling three entire villages. Damage and casualties were also reported in the provinces of Laghman, Nuristan, and Panjshir. The tremor was also felt in several cities in neighboring Pakistan.
The region has since been hit by at least five aftershocks, the strongest of which was a magnitude 5.2 that occurred just hours after the initial quake.
This is the third major earthquake to strike Afghanistan since 2021, a nation facing a cascade of man-made and natural disasters, including poverty, conflict, drought, and the forced repatriation of millions of refugees from neighboring Pakistan and Iran. Powerful earthquakes in 2022 and 2023 killed a combined total of over 3,000 people in the Paktika and Herat provinces.
How many people have been affected?
According to the USGS, nearly half a million people likely felt strong to very strong shaking, which can cause significant damage to poorly constructed buildings, common in rural Afghanistan.
Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, said the death and injury toll is expected to rise. "The injured are being evacuated, so these numbers could change significantly," he told The Associated Press.
Photos from the scene show rows of mud-brick homes washed away into muddy rubble, with residents climbing over massive piles of collapsed concrete. Eyewitnesses recalled scrambling to find relatives trapped under their crushed homes while waiting hours for rescue teams to reach the hardest-hit areas.
“I was half-buried and couldn't get out,” Sadiqullah, a resident of Nurgal in Kunar province, told the AP. His wife and two sons were killed, he added.
Ahmad Zameer, 41, a resident of Kabul, more than 160 kilometers from the epicenter, told CNN the quake shook his neighborhood. He added that everyone from nearby apartment buildings poured into the streets, fearing they would be trapped inside.
Global Funding Cuts Hamper Rescue Efforts
The war-ravaged nation is in the grip of a deepening humanitarian crisis that has worsened since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 following a chaotic U.S. withdrawal. Many international relief groups, wary of cooperating with a repressive regime known for its crackdown on women and girls, have pulled out of Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, the White House halted over $1.7 billion in U.S. aid contracts supporting dozens of programs. The UK, France, and Germany quickly followed suit. According to Reuters, humanitarian aid to Afghanistan has plummeted to $767 million in 2025, down from $3.8 billion in 2022.
Thamindri De Silva, Country Director for World Vision Afghanistan, said the sheer number of challenges has made it difficult for humanitarian organizations to support the Afghan people.
“This is not the first shock we have faced this year. We are going through a drought. We are supporting the response to the returnees. We are still working with those affected by the Herat earthquake. The country is facing a severe malnutrition crisis,” De Silva told CNN. “So it's not just about the funding shortages, but it is about the layering of shock after shock in the country, which is stretching an already very thin resource.”
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| A man walks clambers over a collapsed house in the Mazar Dara village of Nurgal, on Monday. More than 5,000 homes were destroyed in Afghanistan, according to a government spokesperson. - Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images |
She said body bags are one of the greatest needs for supplies, as well as basic necessities like clothing, hygiene products, and cooking utensils.
The Taliban's Appeal for International Support
The Taliban has called on the world to step up with aid, but so far, few countries have come forward. "We need aid because a lot of people have lost their lives and homes," said health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman.
The United Arab Emirates sent food, medical supplies, and tents, as well as a search and rescue team. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom announced £1 million ($1.3 million) in new emergency funding, and the European Commission announced it had raised $1.16 million (€1 million) in emergency humanitarian funding.
China’s foreign ministry said it was ready to provide disaster relief assistance "according to Afghanistan's needs," while India has dispatched 1,000 family tents and 15 tons of food aid. The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs sent "heartfelt condolences to the people of Afghanistan" in a post to X, but there has been no word yet on aid from the United States.
