8 September 2025 | 07:50 CAT
1-minute read

On the night of August 31, 2025, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Nurgal District in Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan, at around 11:47 p.m. local time. The shallow quake—just around 8 km below the surface—triggered violent shaking and landslides in remote mountainous areas, flattening entire villages built from mud and stone suffering near-total destruction.

By September 2, reported fatalities had surpassed 1 400, with injuries numbering in the thousands and at least 5 400 homes destroyed, particularly across Kunar’s Nurgal, Chawkay, and Dara-e-Nur districts. Challenging terrain and damage to roads and bridges made rescue and relief delivery extremely difficult.

The situation escalated further on September 2 when a magnitude 5.2 aftershock hit nearby, inflicting more damage and delaying recovery efforts across the already ravaged region.

Afghanistan was already mired in deep humanitarian distress, with widespread food insecurity, economic instability, and international sanctions severely limiting relief capacity. Decades of conflict, climate-induced droughts and floods, and fractured infrastructure had left millions in dire need—then, the earthquake struck.

Dr Farid Senzai, leading Afghan Relief, described the ordeal.

“It has been devastating. One of the things that we found was getting to these villages. These are very remote villages, mountainous terrain in the eastern part of Afghanistan.” He added, “Most of the houses, in some cases 90 to 95 percent of the houses, had been partially or completely destroyed, demolished.”

Afghan Relief and other organisations have attempted to respond. Emergency aid priorities include food, clean water, tents, medicine, and cash assistance. Mobile clinics and local hospitals are being supported, while cash transfers aim to help unreachable communities.

“In some cases, our team has conveyed that they’ve had to walk for three to four hours just to get to the villages because there’s no way that cars can get through when the roads have been destroyed,” Dr Senzai said.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie.