KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night has risen to 1,411, with at least 3,124 people injured, Taliban authorities said.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X earlier Tuesday that at least 5,400 homes have been destroyed across several districts in Kunar province, the hardest-hit area.
The 6.0-magnitude quake hit multiple provinces, flattening villages and trapping people under homes made mostly of mud bricks and wood, which could not withstand the shock. Officials estimate that about 12,000 people have been directly affected in Kunar alone.
The Afghan Red Crescent Society had earlier reported more than 1,100 deaths, but the number was expected to rise as landslides blocked roads, slowing rescue efforts in the mountainous eastern region. “Many people are trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes, and rescue efforts are ongoing,” the agency said.
Aid teams have reached some areas on foot, while helicopters are being used to airlift the injured.
The United Nations has called for urgent international support.
In a social media post on Tuesday, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said hundreds of families had lost their homes, with many forced to sleep outdoors. “Hundreds of lives have been lost, thousands injured, and countless families left without shelter,” it said. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) warned that the scale of the destruction far exceeds what local authorities and communities can handle alone.
With winter approaching, humanitarian officials say immediate international support is critical to prevent further suffering for survivors who have lost homes, livelihoods, and family members.
This is the third major earthquake to hit Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 amid international sanctions, economic fragility, and a deepening humanitarian crisis.
In 2022, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan claimed around 1,000 lives. A year later, three 6.3-magnitude quakes in western Herat province killed around 4,000 people and left thousands more injured.
The disasters strike as Afghanistan grapples with what the UN calls one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Since the Taliban takeover, poverty has worsened, foreign aid has declined, and the health system is close to collapse. The UN says more than half of Afghanistan’s population, nearly 23 million people, require humanitarian assistance this year. Its $2.4 billion appeal for 2025 remains severely underfunded, raising concerns about the ability to respond to ongoing needs and sudden disasters like this earthquake.
