Hundreds of people were left dead after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck east Afghanistan late Sunday.
Approximately 800 people were killed and more than 2,500 people were injured, according to the latest tally provided Monday by the Taliban government.
The initial earthquake hit at 11:47 p.m. local time and was centered roughly 17 miles east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Several aftershocks followed.
The Taliban government’s chief spokesperson said at a press conference Monday that most deaths and injuries were in Kunar.
“All available resources will be utilized to save lives,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesperson, said rescue operations were underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the region.
Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that “the numbers were expected to change” as deaths and injuries are reported.
Many residents in nearby villages described to The Associated Press seeing houses collapse all around them.
Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza Dara area of Nurgal, told the AP by phone from Nangarhar Hospital that he woke up to the sound of a large boom, saying it sounded like a storm was approaching.
He ran to rescue three of his children and was about to go and grab the rest of his family when his room fell on top of him.
“I was half-buried and unable to get out,” he told the AP. “My wife and two sons are dead, and my father is injured and in hospital with me. We were trapped for three to four hours until people from other areas arrived and pulled me out.”
The deadliest natural disaster in Afghanistan in recent memory occurred in October 2023, when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the country and several strong aftershocks followed.
The Taliban government said roughly 4,000 people died in that earthquake, but the United Nations estimated the death toll at approximately 1,500.
The Associated Press contributed.
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