- A magnitude 5.5 aftershock struck southeastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, just two days after a deadly 6.0 quake killed over 1,400 people and injured more than 3,100.
- The tremors have devastated remote villages in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, flattening homes and cutting off roads.
- Rescue efforts have been severely hindered by landslides and mountainous terrain.
- Aid groups warn of rising disease and starvation, as clean water and food supplies remain inaccessible.
- The UN and Save the Children are calling for urgent international support.
Afghanistan is reeling from a second earthquake — and the race to save lives is growing more desperate by the hour.
On Tuesday, a magnitude 5.5 aftershock rattled southeastern Afghanistan, compounding the devastation from Sunday’s midnight quake that killed at least 1,411 people and injured over 3,100. Both tremors struck at a shallow depth of 10 km, amplifying their destructive force across the mountainous terrain.
The worst-hit provinces — Kunar and Nangarhar — have seen entire villages reduced to rubble. A Reuters journalist who reached the area before the latest tremor reported that every home had been damaged or destroyed, with survivors still digging through debris in search of loved ones. Some homes that had partially withstood the first quake collapsed entirely during the second.
Safiullah Noorzai, who works with humanitarian tech platform Aseel, said the aftershock triggered rockslides that blocked roads and halted rescue operations. His teams on the ground report more injuries and rising panic, with many still trapped under collapsed structures.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the destruction of over 5,400 homes. The UN coordinator in Afghanistan warned that the death toll is likely to climb further as access to remote areas remains limited.
Aid group Save the Children has called for immediate international assistance, citing fears of disease outbreaks due to disrupted water sources and limited access to food and shelter. Samira Sayed Rahman, the group’s Programmes and Advocacy Director, described the situation as a race against time — with thousands of children at risk.
Afghanistan’s vulnerability to earthquakes stems from its location along the Hindu Kush fault line, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. But the scale of this disaster — and the logistical nightmare of reaching survivors — has exposed deep cracks in the country’s emergency response capacity.
Helicopters have been deployed to airlift the wounded, but many villages remain inaccessible. With roads blocked and hospitals overwhelmed, the need for coordinated global support has never been more urgent.
