Mountains crumble, lives shatter: Quake claims 622 in Afghanistan

The death toll from the 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan late on 31 August has risen to 622, with more than 1,000 others injured, state-run Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA) reported on Monday, 1 September.

Rescue efforts remain hampered by the rugged terrain and poor communication links in the remote mountain regions, and officials warn the toll may climb as assessments continue. The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck at 11:47 pm local time, with its epicentre 27 km away at a depth of eight km.

Afghanistan’s position on the Indian–Eurasian fault line makes it especially prone to earthquakes, while landslides in its eastern mountains complicate relief work.

The country has a tragic history of seismic disasters. More than 1,000 people died in western Afghanistan quakes last year, while a 6.3-magnitude quake on 7 October 2023 killed at least 4,000, the deadliest in recent memory.

According to the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over the past decade more than 7,000 Afghans have been killed by earthquakes, an average of 560 deaths annually. The 1998 Takhar-Badakhshan quake alone claimed 4,000 lives, destroyed 100 villages, and left 45,000 people homeless.

With IANS inputs