Earthquake in Afghanistan Kills 8 Members of Same Family

Earthquake in Afghanistan Kills 8 Members of Same Family

An earthquake in Afghanistan has killed at least eight members of the same family and injured others after striking late on Friday, officials said, deepening the humanitarian toll in a region prone to powerful temblors.

The 5.8‑magnitude earthquake struck at 8:42 p.m. local time (1612 GMT) on Friday, with its epicentre located in Badakhshan Province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The quake occurred at a depth of 186 kilometres (115 miles) beneath the surface, a depth that allowed the shaking to be felt over a wide area, including in the capital Kabul and other surrounding provinces.

Shaking was reported across multiple regions of Afghanistan, with residents describing rooms swaying and items falling from shelves, according to international news agency reports.

In Kabul Province, the Gosfand Dara area was among the most severely affected. Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman confirmed to AFP that eight members of a single household lost their lives when their home collapsed during the quake. A two‑year‑old child was the lone survivor from the family; the country’s disaster management agency said the boy sustained injuries and was receiving medical care.

READ ALSO:

• How opposition Tinubu would treat President Tinubu, By Farooq Kperogi
• 14-Year-Old British-Nigerian Boy, Fatally Shot in London
• Iran Crisis Escalates as Second US Warplane Crashes in Persian Gulf

Afghan authorities have not yet detailed whether other deaths or injuries occurred beyond this household in Kabul Province, but tremors were widely felt from the northeast to the national capital and beyond.

Afghanistan sits in a seismically active zone along the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates interact. This makes the region particularly susceptible to strong earthquakes that can cause widespread damage, especially in areas with fragile infrastructure.

In August, a much stronger magnitude‑6.1 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, flattening mountainside villages and killing more than 2,200 people, making it one of the country’s deadliest in recent memory. That disaster displaced tens of thousands, destroyed homes, schools and roads, and underscored Afghanistan’s vulnerability to seismic calamities.

The latest tremor serves as a stark reminder of that risk, particularly as communities still recover from past earthquakes amid ongoing economic hardship and limited emergency response capacity.

Humanitarian agencies and local officials are assessing the broader impact of Friday’s quake, and calls are mounting for more resources to support affected families, improve response capabilities, and enhance early warning systems.

Earthquake in Afghanistan Kills 8 Members of Same Family