Searchers race against time to rescue Afghanistan quake survivors after at least 900 killed

'Our teams ar really struggling,' says give care representative on islamic state of afghanistan earthquake aid

Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in the dead of the night in search of missing loved ones after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, with the Taliban government reporting Monday that 900 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured.

The quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage.

It hit at 11:47 p.m. And was centred 27 kilometres east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and was just eight kilometres deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.

Footage showed rescuers taking the injured on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands.

The Taliban government's chief spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, gave the latest death and injury tolls during a news conference on Monday. He said most of the casualties were in Kunar.

Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mudbricks and wood. Many are poorly built.

One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said nearly the entire village was destroyed.

"Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble," said the villager, who did not give his name.

"We need help here," he pleaded. "We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble."

Eastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas.

The quake has worsened communications. Blocked roads are forcing aid workers to walk four or five hours to reach survivors. Dozens of flights have operated in and out of Nangarhar Airport, transporting the injured to hospital.

One survivor described seeing homes collapse before his eyes and people screaming for help.

Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza Dara area of Nurgal, said he was woken by a deep boom that sounded like a storm approaching. Like many Afghans, he uses only one name.

He ran to where his children were sleeping and rescued three of them. He was about to return to grab the rest of his family when the room fell on top of him.

"I was half-buried and unable to get out," he told The Associated Press by phone from Nangarhar Regional Hospital. "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."

It felt like the whole mountain was shaking, he said.

Rescue operations were underway, and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital, Kabul, have arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a Health Ministry spokesperson.

Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and "the numbers were expected to change" as deaths and injuries are reported. The chief spokesperson, Mujahid, said helicopters had reached some areas but that road travel was difficult.

"There are some villages where the injured and dead haven't been recovered from the rubble, so that's why the numbers may increase," he told journalists.

The tremors were felt in neighbouring Pakistan, including the capital, Islamabad. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said the earthquake intensified existing humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan and urged international donors to support relief efforts.

"This adds death and destruction to other challenges including drought and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries," Grandi wrote on the social media platform X. "Hopefully the donor community will not hesitate to support relief efforts."

Global Affairs Canada said on Monday that the government was already supporting humanitarian aid efforts in Afghanistan with organizations like the UN's World Food Program but that it stands ready to do more as agencies pivot to focus on the immediate needs in the wake of the earthquake.

It said it was not aware of any Canadians in the region impacted by the quake.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake.

The UN gave a far lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.

The latest earthquake was likely to greatly increase "the scale of the humanitarian needs" caused by the disaster of 2023, according to the International Rescue Committee, a non-governmental organization.

Entire roads and communities have been cut off from accessing nearby towns or hospitals, and 2,000 casualties were reported within the first 12 hours, said Sherine Ibrahim, the country director for the aid agency.

"Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain this will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan," Ibrahim said. "Global funding cuts have dramatically hampered our ability to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis."

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by events in Afghanistan.

"Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We are ready to extend all possible support in this regard," he said on X.

Pakistan has expelled tens of thousands of Afghans in the past year, many of them living in the country for decades as refugees.

At least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, according to a June report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

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