Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
The country was again hit by a powerful earthquake which struck a remote border region making the death toll reached 1000, leaving several injured.
The 5.9 magnitude quake struck hardest in the rugged terrain of the east, where people already lived hardscrabble lives in a country in the grip of a humanitarian disaster made worse by the Taliban takeover in August.
The death toll climbed steadily all day as news of casualties filtered in from hard-to-reach areas in the mountains, and the country’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, warned it would likely rise further.
Earlier, a tribal leader from Paktika said survivors and rescuers were scrambling to help those affected.
“The local markets are closed and all the people have rushed to the affected areas,” Yaqub Manzor told AFP by telephone.
