5.2 earthquake hits Afghanistan less than 48 hours after more than 1000 died in previous one
The epicentre of the earthquake was 34 kilometres northeast of Jalalabad city.
New Delhi: Eastern Afghanistan was hit by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on Tuesday, 02 September 2025. The earthquake occurred near the epicentre of a powerful quake at the weekend that killed more than 1,400 people, according to the US Geological Survey.
The epicentre of the quake was 34 kilometres (21 miles) northeast of Jalalabad city in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey.
Earlier on Monday, September 1, a strong earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck Afghanistan in the early hours. The tremors were felt across the region, including parts of Pakistan.
The death toll from the powerful earthquake has risen to 1,411, officials said, according to Al Jazeera. Rescue efforts are ongoing as teams search for survivors following the magnitude 6.0 quake, which has left over 3,000 people injured, with the majority of casualties reported in Kunar province.
Afghanistan is highly prone to deadly earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush Mountain range, where the India(BHARAT)n and Eurasian tectonic plates converge, making the region seismically active.
Chief Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on social media platform X on Tuesday that 1,411 people were killed and 3,124 people were injured in the hard-hit province of Kunar alone. Another dozen people were killed and hundreds injured in neighbouring Nangarhar province.
The earthquake could affect “hundreds of thousands”, said United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan Indrika Ratwatte.
Rescuers searched through the night and all day for survivors in the rubble of homes flattened in Kunar, where more than 5,400 houses were destroyed, government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on X.
Many of the worst-affected areas were still unreachable by road, but emergency facilities were being set up and multiple countries had announced they would provide aid, Fitrat said.
The European Union said it was sending 130 tonnes of emergency supplies and providing one million euros to help victims of the deadly quake. The bloc has become one of the key aid donors to Afghanistan after the United States — previously the country’s largest aid provider — cut all but a slice of its assistance after President Doland Trump took office in January.
Afghanistan is highly prone to deadly earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush Mountain range, where the India(BHARAT)n and Eurasian tectonic plates converge, making the region seismically active.
(With AFP inputs)
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