At least 250 killed in 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Afghanistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — At least 250 people have been killed and over 500 have been injured in Afghanistan after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit the country on Monday, Taliban officials said.

The earthquake struck 17 miles from the city of Jalalabad near the border with Pakistan around midnight local time (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Because the earthquake hit a remote mountainous area, “it will take time to get the exact information about human losses and damage to the infrastructure,” said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Afghan Public Health Ministry.

“We have launched a massive rescue operation and mobilized hundreds of people to help people in the affected areas,” Zaman said.

Afghanistan is especially prone to earthquakes as it sits on top of several fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet. The mountainous terrain of eastern Afghanistan is also prone to landslides, making it harder for emergency services to carry out rescues.

This quake was especially devastating as it hit at a shallow depth of 5 miles, making it far more destructive even at moderate magnitude.

Around 1,000 people were killed and thousands more were injured in 2022 when a 5.9-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan.

That, too, was a shallow quake.

Mushtaq Yusufzai reported from Peshawar and Mithil Aggarwal from Hong Kong.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.