On Sunday night, a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, its epicenter about 17 miles from Jalalabad, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Tremors rippled across the region, reaching Kabul and neighboring Pakistan. Casualties and destruction were reported in Nangarhar province, which includes Jalalabad, as well as in Konar and Laghman. In Konar’s Chawkay district, entire homes collapsed under the quake’s force.
Afghanistan is no stranger to seismic tragedy. In both 2022 and 2023, earthquakes claimed more than 1,000 lives each. But this latest disaster comes at a time of acute vulnerability. International donors have slashed aid budgets over the past year, fueling fears of a worsening health and humanitarian emergency. Afghanistan is also one of only two countries in the world where the wild polio virus still persists.
In a particularly severe blow, the Trump administration earlier this year cut nearly all U.S.-funded humanitarian and economic programs—once a lifeline that made up more than 40 percent of all foreign assistance.
Today, nearly half of Afghanistan’s population—23 million people—depends on humanitarian aid. Yet the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan is just 28 percent funded. The Taliban-led government struggles to keep clinics and hospitals supplied, while the World Food Programme warns it can provide for only 1 million of the 10 million Afghans in desperate need of food.
This earthquake has struck more than buildings; it has rattled the fragile foundations of a nation already on the brink.
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