Updates: Desperate search for survivors after Afghan quake kills over 800

For more on what we know about the Afghanistan earthquake, you can read our explainer here.

Our straight news story on the day’s events is here.

Watch footage of the aftermath of the quake here.

But before leaving, let’s have a recap of the latest developments:

• A magnitude 6 quake struck eastern Afghanistan at 19:17 GMT on Sunday, just before midnight local time, killing more than 800 people and injuring at least 2,800 people.
• Extensive damage has been reported, particularly in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, where more than 600 people have been killed and several villages have been wiped off the map.
• Rescuers are struggling to reach the remote mountainous area to find survivors. “The time window of survival is rapidly reducing, and we need to be there as soon as possible,” Joy Singhal of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told Al Jazeera from Kabul.
• The Taliban has appealed for more aid as the government is faced with the daunting task of handling a major disaster amid a lack of resources and funding shortages. “Support from the international community is seen as essential,” said Abdul Rahman Habib, the Economy Ministry spokesperson.

A major earthquake in Afghanistan has killed more than 800 people, most of them in the northeastern Kunar province.

The epicentre was near the city of Jalalabad. It measured magnitude 6 on the Richter scale and was relatively shallow.

Rescuers are struggling to reach the remote mountainous area, which is cut off from mobile networks.

Al Jazeera’s Michael Appel reports:

The UN’s rights commissioner, Volker Turk, has expressed condolences following the devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan.

“My deepest condolences and solidarity with the people of Afghanistan following the devastating earthquake, which compounds the country’s suffering,” he said in a post on X.

The UN has been present in Afghanistan since 1949, with a team that includes about 20 UN agencies and international organisations, such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Earlier, General-Secretary Antonio Guterres said that UN teams in Afghanistan are mobilised and “will spare no effort to assist those in need in the affected areas”.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs has said the interior minister held a telephone conversation with Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, following the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan.

Abdul Matin Qani, the ministry’s spokesperson, says that Naqvi “extended his condolences to the victims and the injured of the recent earthquake in Kunar and Nangarhar, and assured support for the treatment of the wounded as well as the provision of humanitarian assistance”.

Qani added that Afghanistan’s interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, “expressed his gratitude for this sympathy and assistance, and at the same time conveyed his condolences to the people affected by the floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab”.

The World Food Programme says the decrease in aid funding has mostly affected the most vulnerable people in Afghanistan.

“Even before the quake, the reduced funding had forced WFP to drastically shrink our assistance to reach only the most vulnerable – leaving millions of hungry people without support,” the agency said.

The Taliban has appealed for more aid as the government is faced with the daunting task of handling a major disaster amid international funding cuts.

“Support from the international community is seen as essential,” said Abdul Rahman Habib, the Economy Ministry spokesperson.

Filippo Grandi, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees, said the earthquake has intensified existing humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan, and urged international donors to support relief efforts.

“This adds death and destruction to other challenges, including drought and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries,” Grandi wrote on X.

“Hopefully, the donor community will not hesitate to support relief efforts.”

The UN children’s agency has warned that “thousands of children [are] at risk after devastating earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan”.

In a post on X, UNICEF said its teams are “already on the ground in the affected areas, working closely with local partners and UN agencies to respond rapidly to urgent needs”.

The support includes mobile health teams, medical supplies, hygiene kits, clothing and shelter in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces.

Sherine Ibrahim, the International Rescue Committee’s Afghanistan director, says that US funding cuts to her organisation have been a drag on the response to Afghanistan’s latest disaster.

“Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain that this disaster will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan,” she said on the situation.

Afghanistan often experiences earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasia and India tectonic plates.

Since 1900, there have been 12 earthquakes with magnitude greater than 7 in northeast Afghanistan, according to Brian Baptie, a seismologist at the British Geological Survey.

“This scale of the seismic activity, the potential for multi-hazard events and the construction of structures in the region can combine to create significant loss of life in such events,” he said.

In October 2023, western Herat province was devastated by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, which killed more than 1,500 people and damaged or destroyed more than 63,000 homes.

A magnitude 5.9 quake struck the eastern province of Paktika in June 2022, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.

Ravaged by four decades of war and US occupation, Afghanistan is already contending with a series of humanitarian crises.

Since the return of the Taliban in 2021, following the withdrawal of US forces, foreign aid to Afghanistan has been slashed, undermining the impoverished nation’s already hamstrung ability to respond to disasters.

About 85 percent of the Afghan population lives on less than $1 a day, according to the UN Development Programme.

Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar has expressed condolences to Afghanistan following the deadly earthquake in the country’s east.

According to a statement from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dar conveyed his sympathy during a telephone call with Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi.

“The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Mr Ishaq Dar, expressed condolences for the losses caused by the earthquake in the eastern regions of Afghanistan last night,” the statement read.

Dar expressed his grief and considered himself a partner in this sorrow,” the ministry said in a post on X.

It added that Muttaqi “thanked Mr Ishaq Dar … for his condolences and sympathy in this great tragedy”.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says its teams have reached Dewagal Valley, one of the worst-hit areas in eastern Afghanistan, where more than 200 people have been killed and at least 500 injured.

“Homes and key infrastructure are destroyed. We’re working to meet urgent needs: shelter, water, food, medicines, livelihoods,” the agency said in a post on X.

Dewagal Valley is situated in Kunar province, where the epicentre of the quake was recorded.

UNDP Associate Administrator and Acting Administrator Haoliang Xu expressed his “deepest condolences to the people of Afghanistan”.

“As part of the UN family, UNDP stands ready to support recovery efforts and help affected communities rebuild their lives with dignity and resilience”.

Afghanistan has appealed for Russia’s assistance in rescue and relief efforts in the wake of the earthquake, according to a senior Russian official.

“They reached out and our Emergency Situations Ministry is working on it,” Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, was quoted as saying by state-run media.

The US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs has posted its condolences on X for the loss of life in the earthquake.

“We were saddened to hear of the deadly earthquake that struck the eastern region of Afghanistan on August 31, resulting in a significant loss of life,” it said in a statement.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Afghan people during this difficult time.”

The post did not include any pledge for assistance.

We were saddened to hear of the deadly earthquake that struck the eastern region of Afghanistan on August 31, resulting in a significant loss of life. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Afghan people during this difficult time.

— State_SCA (@State_SCA) September 1, 2025

• China’s Foreign Ministry said it was ready to provide disaster relief assistance “according to Afghanistan’s needs and within its capacity”.
• Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said his country delivered 1,000 family tents to Kabul and was moving 15 tonnes of food material to Kunar, with more relief material to be sent from India starting on Tuesday.
• United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN’s mission in Afghanistan was preparing to help those in areas devastated by the quake.
• Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by events in Afghanistan, adding that his country was ready to extend all possible support.
• Switzerland announced that it is preparing to provide support through the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Office for Development and Cooperation in Kabul, adding that more details would be shared soon.

• The United Arab Emirates has sent urgent aid and rescue teams to assist those affected in Afghanistan as well as critical humanitarian aid, including food, medical supplies and shelter tents, according to local media.

Afghanistan’s Minister of Public Health Mawlawi Noor Jalal Jalali has visited Nangarhar and Kunar provinces to assess the impact of the earthquake and review health services for those affected, according to a statement posted on Facebook by ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman.

Zaman said the minister, accompanied by other officials, first travelled to Nangarhar before heading to the Mazar Dari and Wadeer areas of Kunar’s Noor Gul district, “where most of the affected people have travelled”.

“The purpose of this trip was to assess the health services and needs of the countrymen affected by the earthquake, delivery of health services, review the process of transferring wounded and closely visit the situation of the area,” the statement said.

He added that health centres in Kabul and across four provinces had been placed on emergency footing, with medical teams dispatched overnight to quake-hit areas, treating hundreds of wounded.

Refugee Rights Watch Global has expressed “deepest sorrow and solidarity” with the people of eastern Afghanistan after the devastating magnitude 6 earthquake.

In a statement posted on X, the group offered condolences to families who lost loved ones and said it “stands firmly with the injured and those left without shelter”.

The group called for immediate medical care, shelter, food, clean drinking water and psychosocial support, urging the international community to “mobilise disaster relief without delay and to stand in unwavering solidarity with the Afghan people”.

It said it is in active contact with international organisations to ensure aid reaches affected communities.

The quake has razed three villages in Kunar and substantially damaged many others.

Survivors are desperately waiting for help, and some villagers sat weeping amid the ruins of their homes.

Others began labouriously clearing the debris by hand or carried the injured out on makeshift stretchers.

“This is Mazar Dara in Nurgal district. The entire village has been destroyed,” one victim was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying. “Children and elders are trapped under the rubble. We need urgent help.”

Another survivor said: “We need ambulances. We need doctors. We need everything to rescue the injured and recover the dead.”