Fresh magnitude-6.2 quake strikes Afghanistan as death toll tops 2,200

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan on Thursday, marking the third major tremor in the region since Sunday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences.

The series of quakes has now claimed over 2,200 lives, with thousands more injured and displaced.

Naqibullah Rahimi, spokesperson for the Nangarhar health department, told Reuters that the epicentre was in the remote Shiwa district, near the Pakistan border. Initial reports indicated damage in the Barkashkot area, though assessments were still underway.

The quake, which struck at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), follows two earlier shocks that flattened entire villages across Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, leaving more than 3,600 people injured and tens of thousands homeless.

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Rescue efforts continued on Thursday, with workers still pulling bodies from the rubble. The Taliban administration confirmed the updated toll at 2,205 dead and 3,640 injured, as aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations and other agencies have flagged an urgent need for food, shelter, and medical supplies, with survivors facing a dire situation amid dwindling resources and ongoing aftershocks.

“Everything we had has been destroyed,” Reuters quoted Aalem Jan, whose house in the worst-affected province of Kunar was flattened by the tremors, as saying.

“The only remaining things are these clothes on our backs,” said Jan. His family sat under trees with their belongings piled next to them.

The first earthquake, a magnitude 6.0 tremor, struck on Sunday at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles), causing widespread destruction across Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. It was one of the country’s deadliest quakes in recent years.

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A second magnitude 5.5 quake hit on Tuesday, triggering landslides, cutting off access to remote villages, and disrupting ongoing rescue operations.

Authorities estimate that over 6,700 homes have been destroyed, and the United Nations has warned the death toll may still rise, with many people feared trapped under the rubble as time to reach survivors runs out.

Humanitarian needs are “vast and growing rapidly”, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

“Up to 84,000 people are directly and indirectly affected, with thousands displaced,” it added, citing initial figures.

In some of the worst-affected villages in Kunar province, two out of three people had been killed or injured, while 98% of buildings were either destroyed or damaged by the tremors, Reuters reported, citing an assessment by British-based charity Islamic Relief Worldwide.

Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

With homes made mostly of dry masonry, stone, and timber, some families preferred to sit out in the open rather than return home as aftershocks continued at regular intervals.

The houses gave little protection from the quakes, in ground left unstable by days of heavy rain, said the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Resources for rescue and relief work are tight in the South Asian nation of 42 million people, pulverised by war, poverty, and shrinking aid, where harsh weather presents a further challenge.

US President Donald Trump’s funding cuts to foreign aid and donor frustration over the Taliban’s restrictive policies towards women and its curbs on aid workers have worsened Afghanistan’s isolation.

The World Health Organisation pointed to a funding gap of $3 million, saying it was critical to keep medicines, trauma kits, and essential commodities flowing amid rising demand.

The UN World Food Programme has funding and stocks to support the survivors for just four more weeks, its country head, John Aylieff, told Reuters on Wednesday.

Jacopo Caridi of the Norwegian Refugee Council called for donors to go beyond life-saving relief to ensure Afghans a chance at a future beyond perpetual emergency.

“The earthquake should serve as a stark reminder: Afghanistan cannot be left to face one crisis after another alone,” he said.

With inputs from agencies