Two powerful aftershocks have struck eastern Afghanistan just days after a devastating magnitude-6 earthquake, which killed more than 2,200 people earlier this week.
The latest tremors, measuring 5.4 and 5.5 in magnitude, hit Nangarhar province within 12 hours of each other late on Thursday and early Friday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences.
Both of these quakes were again shallow, with epicentres about 10km deep, which typically makes them more destructive.
Sunday night’s 6.0-magnitude quake collapsed whole villages in remote parts of Nangarhar and neighbouring Kunar. Entire communities were flattened in minutes, with the Taliban reporting 2,205 deaths and at least 3,640 injured as of Thursday. Officials have warned the toll is still rising as rescuers reach remote districts.
More than 6,700 homes have been destroyed, officials said. In Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas, residents described digging through the rubble with their bare hands in the dark to reach children and the elderly trapped beneath collapsed mud-brick houses.
Many families in Kunar and Nangarhar have been camping out in the open since Sunday’s quake, fearful of further tremors.
Damage to roads caused by landslides and debris has slowed rescue efforts, while aftershocks like Thursday night’s have triggered fresh rockslides. Helicopters have airlifted some of the injured, but health facilities are overwhelmed. The border region’s hospitals were already stretched before the earthquake by the forced return of many thousands of refugees from neighbouring Pakistan.
The World Health Organisation warned of overcrowding in temporary shelters, poor sanitation and unsafe water. The UN has released $10m for emergency aid but says the money is already running out and plans to launch an appeal for more support.
“A funding gap of at least $4 million threatens to delay critical activities,” the agency said.
The Taliban authorities appealed for urgent assistance soon after Sunday’s quake, but international relief has been limited. The country remains largely cut off from aid since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Millions of Afghans expelled from Iran and Pakistan in recent months have also put pressure on already fragile services.
The disaster has hit a region that is among the most earthquake-prone in the world, lying on the collision point of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. Shallow quakes here are particularly deadly, with poor-quality housing collapsing easily.
A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in 2023 killed around 1,500 people in the west of the country, according to UN figures. The Taliban said at least three times more people died. In 1998, more than 4,000 were killed in Takhar province.
