Afghanistan quake death toll exceeds 600, over 1,500 injured

International Desk Published: 1 September 2025, 12:34 PM | Updated: 1 September 2025, 12:38 PM

Afghanistan quake death toll exceeds 600, over 1,500 injured

A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province on Sunday night, August 31, 2025, causing widespread destruction and casualties. Photo from the state-run Bakhtar News Agency’s verified X page.

The death toll from the earthquake in Afghanistan has risen to more than 600, with over 1,500 injured, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.

In the earthquake that struck just before midnight on Sunday, "610 people were killed and 1,300 injured in Kunar province, with numerous houses destroyed," spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP. In Nangarhar province, 12 people were killed and another 255 injured.

The Defence Ministry flew 30 doctors and 800 kg (1,764 pounds) of medicine into the province to support local hospitals overwhelmed by casualties, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported.

The Taliban government said in a statement on X that the earthquake has caused "loss of life and property damage in some of our eastern provinces."

"Local officials and residents are currently engaged in rescue efforts for the affected people. Support teams from the centre and nearby provinces are also on their way," the statement added.

Source: AFP, Al Jazeera