LONDON — A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, destroying several villages and killing hundreds, according to a local official and the United Nations mission.
More than 600 people were killed and more than 1,300 were injured in the Kunar province, Mufti Abdul Matin Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, told Afghan media early on Monday. Another dozen people were killed in the Nangarhar province, he said.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said in a statement its staffers were “deeply saddened” by the “devastating” quake, which “claimed hundreds of lives, injuring many more.”
The powerful earthquake struck about 17 miles east of Jalalabad, near the border with Pakistan just before midnight, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Afghan injured children receive treatment at a hospital after an earthquake in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad on September 1, 2025.
Aimal Zahir/AFP via Getty Images
The Afghan health minister said that several villages in the Nurgal district of Kunar — including Sholt, Arit, Mamagal, Wadir and others — had been all but destroyed. Others suffered significant damage, the minister said.
Some of the injured had been evacuated and rescue efforts were ongoing, the ministry said.
“Sadly, tonight’s earthquake has caused loss of life and property damage in some of our eastern provinces,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a government spokesperson, said in a post on social media.
People carry an earthquake victim on a stretcher to an ambulance at an airport in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sept. 1, 2025.
Stringer/Reuters
Mujahid said support teams from nearby provinces had been dispatched to the area.
The Ministry of Defense said a 10-member crew flew some 40 flights out of the area, carrying 420 people to hospitals, including the Daoud Khan Military Hospital. The National Disaster Management Authority said a convoy carrying response teams was en route to the affected areas in Kunar.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan began coordinating with other international agencies after the quake, saying its “partners are on the ground initiating immediate relief efforts.”
In this photo released by the Nangarhar Media Center, stretchers and ambulances are prepared to receive victims of an earthquake that killed hundreds and destroyed numerous villages in eastern Afghanistan, at Nangarhar Airport in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025.
AP
The U.N. would “spare no effort to assist those in need in the affected areas,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
“I stand in full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake that hit the country earlier today,” he said on social media. “I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured.”
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
