Afghanistan reels as fourth quake in a week deepens crisis; death toll crosses 2,200

Afghanistan’s suffering deepened on September 5 after a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck the country’s southeast, the fourth powerful tremor to hit since August 31. The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) confirmed the quake, recorded at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

The jolt came just hours after a strong aftershock late Thursday, compounding fears in a region already devastated by a string of lethal quakes. According to local officials, the epicentre of Thursday’s tremor lay in Nangarhar’s Shiwa district, near the Pakistan border. Reports of fresh damage are still emerging as assessments remain incomplete.

Across Nangarhar, terrified families spent the night outdoors, too afraid to return to fragile homes built of stone and timber. “The ground hasn’t stopped shaking,” a Reuters witness said, describing a community on edge.

One of Afghanistan’s deadliest weeks

The series of quakes began on August 31 with a 6.0-magnitude tremor that ripped through Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. A second 5.5-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday, unleashing landslides that cut off entire villages and stalled rescue operations.

The Taliban administration has confirmed at least 2,205 deaths and 3,640 injuries, with more than 6,700 homes reduced to rubble. Rescue workers continued to pull bodies from collapsed structures Thursday, while aid groups warned of dwindling food, medicine, and shelter.

The United Nations has described the situation as dire, with thousands of survivors now exposed to harsh conditions, forced to sleep in the open as resources run thin.

Seismologists note the region sits atop the volatile Hindu Kush fault line, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, making Afghanistan among the world’s most quake-prone regions.