Rescuers race to find Afghan quake survivors as death toll rises

The United Nations has warned of an exponential rise in casualties from a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, as the Taliban said the death toll had surpassed 1,400 on Tuesday, with more than 3,000 people injured.

The figures provided by Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid were mainly for the province of Kunar.

Sunday night’s magnitude 6 earthquake affected several provinces, causing extensive damage. It flattened villages and trapped people under the rubble of homes constructed mainly of mud bricks and wood, which were unable to withstand the shock.

Rough terrain is hampering rescue and relief efforts, forcing Taliban authorities to airdrop dozens of commandos to evacuate the injured from places where helicopters cannot land.

A magnitude 5.2 aftershock, close to the epicentre of Sunday’s earthquake, rattled the area on Tuesday, according to the United States Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage.

Indrika Ratwatte, the United Nations 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 on 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, 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 strong 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 Afghans forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan.

The Taliban government has appealed for assistance from the international community and the humanitarian sector. However, help for the country is in short supply due to competing global crises and reduced aid budgets in donor countries.