Devastation Unfolds as Afghanistan Suffers Deadly Earthquake

Tue Sep 23 2025 10:52:11 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake has claimed the lives of at least 800 people in eastern Afghanistan, with communities left in shock and desperate for aid. Reports detail harrowing experiences and the struggles facing rescue teams amidst the mountainous terrain.

An earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude struck eastern Afghanistan, particularly affecting the Kunar province, resulting in over 800 fatalities. Eyewitness accounts describe scenes of destruction, with villages reduced to rubble and children among the injured. Rescue operations are hampered by blocked roads and ongoing aftershocks, leaving many still trapped under the debris. Eyewitness Matiullah Shahab shares his experience as a volunteer aiding the grieving communities.

Just before midnight on Sunday, Matiullah Shahab woke up to find his house in Afghanistan's remote Kunar province shaking. An earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude had struck eastern Afghanistan, leaving at least 800 people dead, according to the UN.

Even though the epicenter of the quake was 16km away, the whole of Shahab's village of Asadabad trembled. The 23 family members who live with him ran out of their bedrooms as they feared the walls would fall in on them, staying awake all night in their garden. We were all afraid, he says.

The areas worst hit by the quake were Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, but it was felt as far away as Kabul and in neighbouring Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

When day broke, Matiullah - who is a freelance journalist and human rights activist - drove from his home to try to reach the remote mountainous area at the epicenter of the quake. He says he had to get out of his car and walk for two hours to arrive at the worst-hit villages due to rocks blocking the road.

Upon reaching the village of Andarlachak, he found several young children being treated by medics in the street. A pair of toddlers lay together on a stretcher with bruises on their chests and faces. Tragically, 79 people died in that village alone.

I saw many dead bodies, Matiullah tells the BBC. I felt the aftershocks 17 times.

Matiullah helped the local people dig graves for the many who had perished. The villages I visited were destroyed, he recalls. Many residents were in shock, unable to speak of their loss.

Due to blocked roads, Taliban government rescue operations have relied on helicopters. Still, the remote terrain means that some areas remain inaccessible, with reports of people dying under the rubble while awaiting rescue.

Volunteers have been working tirelessly to rescue trapped individuals, managing to save two women from a destroyed building.

Due to the devastation, many residents are now sleeping outside and urgently need tents. Another survivor, Ezzatullah Safi, described the chaotic night during the quake, where part of his house collapsed. The earthquake was intense, and the night felt like a small apocalypse, he shared.

Government helicopters have begun to airlift the injured, but blocked access and ongoing aftershocks add to the prevailing atmosphere of grief in the region.