KABUL — Hundreds of people were killed and more than a thousand injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan’s mountainous eastern region on Sunday, officials said, with rescuers scrambling to reach hard-hit, remote communities.

At least 610 people were killed and 1,300 injured in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, near the Pakistan border, Abdul Mateen Qaney, spokesperson for the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement to CNN. A “large number” of houses were destroyed in Kunar, he added.

Relief teams have struggled to reach some of the more remote communities and their progress has been hampered by landslides, reported the Taliban’s state-run Bakhtar News Agency (BNA).

The earthquake hit just before midnight, 27 kilometers (16.77 miles) north-east of Jalalabad, a city of about 200,000 people in Nangarhar Province, and at a comparatively shallow depth of 8km (4.97 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

On Monday, local officials said at least 250 people had been killed and more than 500 others injured in several districts of the mountainous northeastern Kunar province, BNA reported.

“The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site,” health ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.

Nearly half a million people likely felt strong to very strong shaking, which can result in considerable damage to poorly built structures, according to the USGS.

Ahmad Zameer, 41, a resident in Kabul, told CNN the earthquake was strong and jolted his neighborhood more than 100 miles from the epicenter. He added that everyone from the nearby apartment buildings rushed to the street in fear of being trapped inside.

“Unfortunately, tonight’s earthquake has had human casualties and financial damages in some of our eastern provinces,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X.

“Right now, local officials and residents are making all the efforts to rescue affected ones. Support teams from the capital and nearby provinces are also on their way. All available resources will be used for the rescue and relief of the people,” he added.

The earthquake was also felt in several cities in neighboring Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said in a statement.

The region was hit by at least five aftershocks, the strongest measuring 5.2-magnitude in the hours after the initial quake, according to USGS.

An orange alert was issued by the USGS PAGER system, which predicts economic and human loss after earthquakes.

“Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,” it said.

Afghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, many of which happen in the mountainous Hindu Kush region that borders Pakistan. In October 2023, more than 2,000 people died after a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan – one of the deadliest quakes to hit the country in recent years. - CNN