Afghanistan earthquake death toll tops 2,200 as rescue efforts continue

The Taliban government reported that search operations continued late into September 3 in the mountainous eastern regions hit by a powerful earthquake, with more bodies being recovered.

Officials said the death toll has surpassed  2,200, although an exact count was not yet available, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

One survivor from Kunar province, the hardest-hit area, told reporters: “Everything we had is destroyed. Our house collapsed, and we have lost all our possessions. All that remains are the clothes we are wearing.”

The first quake, registering six on the Richter scale, struck on August 31 at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres and is considered one of the strongest in Afghanistan in recent years. It caused widespread destruction in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.

A second earthquake, measuring 5.5, struck on September 2, sparking panic and hampering rescue efforts. Landslides blocked roads leading to remote villages, further complicating aid delivery.

Authorities reported around 3,640 people injured and more than 6,700 homes destroyed. The United Nations warned that the death toll could rise as many remain trapped under rubble, with time running out to rescue survivors.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said humanitarian needs were “immense and rapidly growing.” Preliminary estimates suggest that up to 84,000 people have been directly or indirectly affected, with thousands displaced.

Entire families have been wiped out in some villages in Kunar province. Survivors have been desperately searching for relatives among the rubble, carrying bodies on stretchers and digging graves with hand tools while waiting for aid to arrive.

Images showed trucks, some loaded with sacks of flour and others carrying men with shovels, making their way to remote villages on steep hillsides. Authorities also deployed dozens of special forces troops by air to locations where helicopters could not land.

By Aghakazim Guliyev