The death toll from the earthquake that occurred in the eastern region of Afghanistan has exceeded 800.
According to AFP on the 1st (local time), a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred near Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, around 11:47 p.m. on August 31, resulting in over 800 fatalities and about 2,500 injuries confirmed so far.
Initially, the death toll was reported to be 622, but as rescue operations continue, the scale of human casualties is gradually increasing. A spokesperson for Afghanistan's Taliban regime, Zabihullah Mujahid, noted in a press conference in the capital Kabul that most of the casualties occurred in Kunar province, bordering Pakistan, and at least 12 people were reported dead and 255 injured in the nearby Nangarhar province.
Many individuals are buried under collapsed buildings, and the number of fatalities is likely to increase further.
Medical personnel and rescue teams have been dispatched nationwide, including Kabul, and operations to urgently transfer severely injured individuals to hospitals using helicopters are ongoing.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the earthquake is located at a latitude of 34.51 degrees north and a longitude of 70.73 degrees east, with a depth of about 8 km.
This region frequently experiences earthquakes due to its geological structure where the Indian and Eurasian plates converge. In October 2023, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 struck western Afghanistan's Herat province, resulting in over 2,000 fatalities, causing 4,500 casualties.
In particular, eastern and northeastern Afghanistan has many vulnerable dwellings made of mud bricks, and the complex mountainous terrain is known to cause severe damage during earthquakes.