Afhganistan Earthquake Death Toll Reaches More Than 800 People

JAKARTA - Earthquakes in Afghanistan are now recorded to have killed more than 800 people and injured 2,800 people. Helicopters transport injured victims to hospitals after they were evacuated from the rubble of the house being combed to search for survivors.

This disaster is expected to further drain the resources of the Taliban government in the war-torn country, which is already grappling with a humanitarian crisis, from a sharp decline in aid to the rejection of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by neighboring countries.

Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Kabul, called for international assistance to cope with the damage caused by the Richter-scale 6 magnitude earthquake that hit around midnight, at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).

"We need it because here many people have lost their lives and homes," he told Reuters on Monday, September 1.

The earthquake killed 812 people in the provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar in the eastern part, government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Rescue teams are struggling to reach remote mountainous areas cut off from mobile networks along Pakistan's borders, where mud-pattered houses scattered on slopes collapsed due to the earthquake.

"Our entire team has been mobilized to speed up aid, so comprehensive and full support can be provided," said Health Ministry spokesman Abdul Maten Qanee, referring to efforts in various fields, from safety to food and health.

Reuters television footage showed helicopters carrying affected victims, while residents helped security forces and medics carry injured victims to ambulances in areas with long history of earthquakes and floods.

Military rescue teams were deployed throughout the region, the Defense Ministry said, with 40 flights carrying 420 injured and dead.

The earthquake razed three villages in Kunar, with severe damage to many other villages, authorities said. At least 610 people died in Kunar with 12 people killed in Nangarhar, they added.

This earthquake is Afghanistan's deadliest third major earthquake since the Taliban took power in 2021 when foreign forces withdrew, prompting cuts to international funding which is largely government finance.