The UN said Tuesday that the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, which has killed more than 1,400 people, could affect “hundreds of thousands” and warned of an “exponential” rise in casualties, Ariananews.af reports.
“We think potentially the impacted individuals would go up into the hundreds of thousands,” Indrika Ratwatte, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, told reporters from Kabul.
The 6.0-magnitude quake struck remote mountainous provinces near the Pakistan border around midnight Sunday, followed by several aftershocks. Thousands were injured. “The numbers are definitely going to increase,” Ratwatte said, citing the vulnerability of mud-brick homes that collapse easily, especially at night when families were sleeping.
The quake triggered landslides and rockfalls, severely damaging roads and making access difficult. Ratwatte stressed the urgent need for helicopters to evacuate the injured and deploy rescue and medical teams.
Afghanistan, already one of the world’s poorest nations, faces a prolonged humanitarian crisis worsened by drought and mass refugee returns. Since April, more than 478,000 Afghans have come back from Pakistan, 337,000 through the Torkham crossing near the epicenter. Nearly a quarter settled in hard-hit Nangarhar Province.
“These people, with very limited resources, are now returning to a disaster zone,” said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch.
Ratwatte added that the UN’s $2.4 billion appeal for aid this year is only 28% funded, urging immediate international support.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
3 сентября 2025 года