A magnitude 6.2 earthquake jolted southeastern Afghanistan on Thursday, the third tremor to strike the region since Sunday’s deadly quake that killed more than 2,200 people and left tens of thousands homeless in one of the country’s worst disasters in years.
The latest quake, centered in the remote Shiwa district of Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border, occurred at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences. Naqibullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the provincial health department, said initial reports indicated damage in the Barkashkot area, with details still emerging as teams assessed the rugged terrain.
The tremor compounded the devastation from earlier quakes that flattened villages in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. Taliban authorities updated the death toll Thursday to 2,205, with at least 3,640 injured. Rescue workers continued pulling bodies from rubble in the mountainous east, where more than 6,700 homes have been destroyed, leaving survivors exposed to the elements amid warnings of dwindling aid resources.
“Everything we had has been destroyed,” said Aalem Jan, a survivor whose home in hard-hit Kunar province was leveled. “The only remaining things are these clothes on our backs.” Jan and his family huddled under trees, their few belongings piled nearby, in a scene repeated across the region.
Sunday’s initial magnitude 6 quake, also at 10 km depth, unleashed widespread destruction, marking one of Afghanistan’s deadliest in recent memory. A follow-up magnitude 5.5 tremor on Tuesday triggered panic, dislodged rocks from mountainsides, and blocked roads, hampering rescue efforts in isolated villages.
The United Nations has cautioned that the toll could climb as search operations race against time, with people potentially still trapped. Humanitarian needs are “vast and growing rapidly,” according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which estimates up to 84,000 people directly or indirectly affected, including thousands displaced.
In some Kunar villages, assessments by the British-based charity Islamic Relief Worldwide revealed grim statistics: two out of three residents killed or injured, and 98% of buildings destroyed or damaged. Survivors sifted through debris for loved ones, carried bodies on makeshift stretchers, and dug graves with pickaxes while awaiting aid.
Video footage showed aid trucks laden with flour sacks and workers with shovels navigating steep slopes to reach remote areas. Authorities airdropped commando forces to sites inaccessible by helicopter.
Aid groups, including the U.N., have appealed for urgent supplies of food, medical aid and shelter as resources strain under the crisis. The quakes highlight Afghanistan’s vulnerability in the Hindu Kush range, where the colliding Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates frequently trigger deadly seismic activity.
