What you need to know about the Afghanistan earthquake: summary

What we know

• A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan around midnight on August 31, with an epicentre near Jalalabad in Nangarhar Province. Neighbouring Kunar Province was also heavily impacted.
• The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake struck 27 km (17 miles) from Jalalabad, close to the Pakistani border, and about 140 km (87 miles) from Kabul.
• At least 812 people have been killed and around 2,800 injured, making it one of Afghanistan’s deadliest recent earthquakes.
• Rescue teams, including the military and civilian volunteers, have been deployed. Helicopters are evacuating the injured and delivering aid to remote areas. Reuters further reports that rescue teams struggled to reach remote mountain villages near the Pakistani border, where collapsed mud brick homes and damaged networks left communities cut off. The Taliban administration has appealed for international assistance, citing limited resources.
• The United Nations, UNICEF, and other aid agencies are mobilising support, but response efforts are being slowed by mountainous terrain, landslides, and damaged infrastructure.

What they said

Sharafat Zaman, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s health ministry, urged the international community to step in, “We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses.” Another health ministry spokesperson, Abdul Maten Qanee, said all government teams had been mobilised, “Comprehensive and full support is being provided, from security to food and health.” Survivors described harrowing scenes. Muhammad Aziz, a labourer from Kunar’s Nur Gul district, told the Guardian that he lost 10 relatives, including five children; “The poor people in this area have lost everything. There is death in every home, and beneath the rubble of each roof, there are dead bodies. The mud houses have been wiped away, and destruction is everywhere. People are desperately seeking help.”