Damaged houses are seen after a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan in Dara Noor, in Jalalabad on September 1, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The death toll from a strong earthquake in Afghanistan’s east rose to 900, with 3,000 people injured, an official said Tuesday (September 2, 2025) as rescue teams scoured the area for survivors.

The 6.0 magnitude quake struck late Sunday (August 31, 2025) night in a mountainous region, flattening villages and leaving people trapped under rubble for hours.

“The injured are being evacuated, so these figures may change significantly,” Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, told The Associated Press.

An Afghan man looks for his belongings amidst the rubble of a collapsed house after a deadly magnitude-6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan around midnight, in Dara Noor, in Jalalabad on September 1, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

“The earthquake caused landslides in some areas, blocking roads, but they have been reopened, and the remaining roads will be reopened to allow access to areas that were difficult to reach.”

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At least 20 people were killed when a boat sank while crossing a river in eastern Afghanistan on June 1 morning, a Taliban official said.

Quraishi Badlon, provincial director of the Information and Culture Department in Nangarhar Province, said that the boat sank while crossing a river in Mohmand Dara district, killing 20 people including women and children.

Mr. Badlon said that the boat was carrying 25 people, according to village residents, of whom five survived.

So far five bodies have been retrieved including a man, a woman, two boys and a girl, said the Nangarhar Health Department in a statement. It added that a medical team and ambulances were sent to the area.

The officials didn’t provide details on the cause of the accident and said that rescuers are still searching for other bodies.

Residents of the area frequently use locally made boats to travel between villages and local markets.