Rescuers race to find Afghan quake survivors as death toll passes 1,400
[September 03, 2025]
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations warned of an
exponential rise in casualties from a major earthquake in eastern
Afghanistan, as the Taliban said the death toll passed 1,400 on Tuesday,
with more than 3,000 people injured.
The figures provided by Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
were just for the province of Kunar.
Sunday night’s powerful 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck several
provinces, causing extensive damage. It flattened villages and trapped
people under the rubble of homes constructed mostly of mud bricks and
wood that were unable to withstand the shock.
Rough terrain is hampering rescue and relief efforts, forcing Taliban
authorities to air-drop dozens of commandos to evacuate the injured from
places where helicopters cannot land.
Aid agency Save the Children said one of its teams walked for over 12
miles (19 kilometers) to reach villages cut off by rock falls, carrying
medical equipment on their backs with the help of community members.
An aftershock of 5.2 magnitude close to the epicenter of Sunday’s quake
rattled the area on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
Indrika Ratwatte, the U.N.'s resident coordinator for Afghanistan, said
rescuers are scrambling in a “race against time” to reach the
mountainous and remote area. In a media briefing in Geneva Tuesday, he
warned of a surge in casualty numbers.
“We cannot afford to forget the people of Afghanistan who are facing
multiple crises, multiple shocks, and the resilience of the communities
has been saturated,” Ratwatte said, while urging the international
community to step forward.
“These are life and death decisions while we race against time to reach
people," he said.
It is the third major earthquake since the Taliban seized power in 2021,
and the latest crisis to beset Afghanistan, which is reeling from deep
cuts to aid funding, a weak economy, and millions of people forcibly
returned from Iran and Pakistan.
Ratwatte said that when the walls of wooden and mud homes collapse, the
roof falls on the occupants, causing injury or death. While the area was
low-density, the earthquake struck when everybody was asleep.
“If you were to model it based on what has happened before, clearly
there’s no question that the casualty rate is going to be rather
exponential,” he said.
Aid is trickling in to help victims
The Taliban government, which is only recognized by Russia, has appealed
for assistance from the international community and the humanitarian
sector. However, help for Afghanistan is in short supply due to
competing global crises and reduced aid budgets in donor countries.
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A partially collapsed house is seen in an area devastated by
Sunday's powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake that killed many people
and destroyed villages in eastern Afghanistan, in Dara Noor, Kunar
province, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025,. (AP Photo/Wahidullah Kakar)
The United Nations humanitarian office released $5 million from its
emergency fund to help kickstart the U.N. response and that will be
matched by $5 million from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, U.N.
spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Tuesday.
The U.N. has dispatched at least 25 assessment teams to the region,
deploying essential items including blankets and solar lamps to
areas that can be reached, Dujarric said. Humanitarian experts said
that immediate priorities include emergency shelter, critical
medical supplies, drinking water and emergency food aid.
The U.K. has pledged 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) to be split
between humanitarian agencies rather than going to the Taliban
government, which it does not recognize.
The European Union is sending 130 tons of emergency supplies and
providing 1 million euros ($1.16 million). Other countries,
including the United Arab Emirates, India and China have pledged
disaster relief support.
But earthquake victims are bearing the brunt of opposition to the
Taliban government, especially their restrictive policies on Afghan
girls and women, including a ban on them working for NGOs. Donor
countries had already scaled back their funding and, earlier this
year, the U.S. gutted aid to Afghanistan, partly due to concerns
that money was going to the Taliban administration.
Kate Carey, the deputy head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, said more than 420 health
facilities had closed or were suspended due to the “massive
reduction” in funding, with 80 of them in the eastern region, the
heart of Sunday’s quake.
“The consequence is that the remaining facilities are overwhelmed,
have insufficient supplies and personnel, and are not as close to
the affected populations as the more local facilities at a time when
providing emergency trauma care is needed in the first 24 to 72
hours of the earthquake response,” said Carey.
Taliban authorities have set up a camp in Kunar to organize supplies
and emergency aid. There are also two centers to coordinate the
transportation of the injured, the burial of the dead, and the
rescue of survivors.
____
Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Edith M. Lederer
at the United Nations contributed to this report.
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