At least 500 people died and nearly 1,000 were injured in the magnitude-6 earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan, state broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) reported Monday morning.

The earthquake hit Kunar (northeast) and Nangarhar (southeast) provinces in particular, flattening entire villages, and rescue teams have been searching for survivors in the last hours in the rubble of houses.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health clarifies that data remains to be gathered from other sectors in the region, where there are many remote communities and a history of devastating earthquakes and floods, to provide a clearer picture of the scale of the tragedy.

“The number of dead and injured is high” and as “the area is inaccessible, our teams remain on the ground,” said health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman.

Hundreds of injured were taken to hospitals, a provincial authorities spokesman informed earlier.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by strong earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near which the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates intersect underground.

🔵 #Terremoto Forte scossa di magnitudo 6.0 nell'#Afghanistan orientale, vicino al confine con il Pakistan. Almeno 9 morti e 25 feriti a Nangarhar, ma l'alto numero di edifici fatiscenti nella zona fa temere che il numero delle vittime sia molto più alto pic.twitter.com/zolclIp9S2

— Rai Radio1 (@Radio1Rai) September 1, 2025

A series of earthquakes in the western part of the country claimed the lives of some 1,000 people in 2024. The country, one of the poorest in the world, remains extremely vulnerable to so-called natural disasters.

The epicentre of the earthquake, which occurred at 23:47 (local time; 22:17 GMT) at a shallow depth – 8 kilometres – was located 42 kilometres from Jalalabad, according to an estimate by the US Geological Survey (USGS). The German Geosciences Research Centre (GFZ), for its part, also estimated the magnitude of the earthquake to be 6 degrees, estimating the focal depth to be slightly greater at 10 kilometres.

#AfghanistanEarthquake: Afghan official Bakhtar news agency has reported that Around 250 people have been killed and 500 others injured in the earthquake that struck the districts of Nurgal, Sawki, Watpur, Manogi, and Chapa Dara in #Kunar province last night. Officials say these… pic.twitter.com/KspP2lD2qG

— Tahir Khan (@taahir_khan) September 1, 2025