Afghanistan earthquake: What we know – and what we don’t

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake has struck Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern region, with authorities saying hundreds of people have been killed.

The quake hit at 23:47 local time on Sunday (19:17 GMT) with its epicentre 27km (17 miles) away from Jalalabad, the country’s fifth-largest city, in eastern Nangarhar province.

It was shallow – only 8km deep – and was felt 140km away in the capital, Kabul, as well as in neighbouring Pakistan. Hundreds of people are thought to have died.

The initial quake was followed by a number of large aftershocks, which are thought to have caused further deaths.

Details are still emerging and it could be some time before the extent of the damage and number of deaths is known.

Initial reports indicate significant casualties and widespread damage across parts of the far western Nangarhar and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.

These mountainous areas are extremely challenging to reach even at the best of times, which is hampering rescue and relief operations.

The BBC has been told that the road leading to the epicentre has been blocked because of a landslide, so the Taliban government is using helicopters to get people out.

Multiple sources from the government have said that dozens of houses are buried under the rubble. Aid from international organisations has been requested.

Access by road to the worst-hit areas remains blocked, but hundreds of homes are likely to have been destroyed, according to Salam Al Janabi from the UN children’s charity Unicef.

The aid organisation World Vision says that entire villages in Chawki and Nurgal regions – both in Kunar province – have been completely or partially destroyed, with homes made of mud and timber collapsing and trapping residents under rubble.

An official in Nurgal told the news agency AFP that many of those living in the quake-hit villages had returned to the country from Iran and Pakistan in recent years. Both nations have stepped up efforts to deport more than a million Afghans – many of whom had initially fled the country to escape violence.

The earthquake came in the wake of flash flooding over the weekend which left at least five dead, according to local media. The flood, which caused landslides and damaged infrastructure, also temporarily disrupted traffic between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As we have reported, the nature of the terrain means it is difficult to access and there are limited communications – meaning it will take longer to get updates on the situation. There is also likely to be damage to infrastructure, making it even harder to reach affected areas.

During previous major earthquakes, the death toll jumped up steeply once access to the affected areas was established.

However, there are other factors that hamper both our ability to get accurate information about the situation and in getting aid into the affected areas.

Since August 2021 the country has been under the control of the Taliban, whose government most of the world does not recognise.

The return of the hardline Islamist group to power sparked an exodus of international journalists, with organisations like the BBC pulling many of their staff from the country.

Several aid agencies and NGOs also suspended their work in Afghanistan as a result – meaning there are fewer ways to verify what is happening there.

However, there are no restrictions on allowing in international aid.

Afghanistan was pushed into economic collapse when the Taliban took over and more than 23 million Afghans are now in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the International Rescue Committee.

Most foreign donations to Afghanistan have been suspended and international sanctions, which date back to when the Taliban were first in power in the 1990s, are still in place – although exemptions have been made for humanitarian relief.

Prior to the Taliban takeover, about 80% of Afghanistan’s budget came from foreign donors. This funded nearly all public healthcare, which has since collapsed.

Jalalabad’s main hospital – the biggest medical facility close to the epicentre – is already overwhelmed, being right at the centre of the crossing point for the tens of thousands of Afghans being deported from neighbouring Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s financial assets abroad (mainly held in the US) have also been frozen, while the abrupt freeze on US Agency for International Development (USAID) earlier this year has significantly affected aid delivery.

There are concerns that the health and safety of women and girls could be at greater risk due to the restrictions placed on them by the Taliban government.

These “continue to limit their access to life-saving services, leaving them [women and girls] among the most vulnerable in the aftermath of the quake”, said Graham Davison, head of the Afghanistan branch of the international aid group Care.

Kunar is a very conservative area, so for cultural reasons, women might end up being treated later. It is feared some women may have chosen to stay, or wait for daylight to be taken to hospital by their families.

The powerful earthquake in the Paktika province of 2022 saw the number of injured women in hospitals rise two days after the earthquake.

It is also important to note that there are no female rescuers on the ground.

Afghanistan is very prone to earthquakes because it is located on top of a number of fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet.

Earthquakes happen when there is sudden movement along the tectonic plates which make up the Earth’s surface. Fractures called fault lines occur where the plates collide.

In 2023, a series of quakes in Herat province killed more than 1,000 people. In 2022, Paktika province was struck by a quake which also killed more than 1,000.

Shallow earthquakes are common in the country and are more destructive, as seismic waves have less of a distance to travel to the Earth’s surface and therefore retain much of their power.

Buildings in Afghanistan also tend to be made of timber, mud brick or weak concrete, which are not quake-resistant.

A lot of damage also comes from landslides caused by earthquakes, which can flatten houses in mountain villages and block rivers, causing flooding.