Photography

Photos: A Deadly Earthquake Strikes Afghanistan

Rescue and recovery efforts continue after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck in eastern Afghanistan, toppling thousands of houses and other structures in mountainous and remote provinces, killing at least 1,400 people and injuring more than 3,000.

By Alan Taylor
A man sits amid the ruins of an earthquake-damaged house, in Afghanistan.
AFP / Getty
A man sits amid the remains of a damaged house, in the aftermath of an earthquake at the Dara-i-Nur district of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province on September 3, 2025.
A heavily quake-damaged Afghan village, seen from the air
Latin America News Agency / Reuters
A heavily quake-damaged Afghan village, seen from the air on September 2, 2025.
Workers and volunteers search through the rubble of a destroyed house.
Hedayat Shah / AP
Civil-defense workers, locals, and army soldiers clear rubble of a collapsed house in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, on September 2, 2025.
A military helicopter lifts off, watched by a crowd.
Wahidullah Kakar / AP
A military helicopter carrying injured victims of the earthquake takes off in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, on September 1, 2025.
A pile of rocks and timber that used to be a house, toppled by an earthquake.
Saifurahman Safi / Xinhua News Agency / Getty
A damaged structure sits in the Nurgal district of Kunar province, seen on September 1, 2025.
Men stand side-by-side outside, praying during a funeral ceremony, standing in front of several bodies wrapped in sheets.
Latin America News Agency / Reuters
Men gather and pray during a funeral ceremony for victims in Kunar province.
The side of a damaged multi-story stone house, with many of its walls collapsed. Two cows and a goat are visible standing in one of the rooms.
Sayed Hassib / Reuters
Livestock shelter inside a damaged house in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, on September 2, 2025.
A close view of an Afghan girl
Sayed Hassib / Reuters
An Afghan girl stands near her damaged house in Mazar Dara on September 2, 2025.
Several dozen Afghan villagers sit together outside, alongside a farm field and a few cows.
Wakil Kohsar / AFP / Getty
Afghans gather near damaged houses after an earthquake and aftershocks in Mazar Dara village on September 1, 2025.
A distant view of a small mountainside village that has been badly damaged by an earthquake
Sayed Hassib / Reuters
Quake-damaged houses, seen in Lulam village, in the Nurgal district of Kunar province, on September 3, 2025.
Soldiers and volunteers clear rubble as they search for survivors among destroyed houses.
Hedayat Shah / AP
Soldiers and volunteers clear rubble as they search for survivors in Mazar Dara on September 2, 2025.
Quake-damaged houses, viewed from a helicopter.
Wakil Kohsar / AFP / Getty
Damaged houses are pictured from a helicopter in Mazar Dara village on September 1, 2025.
Afghan villagers gather around a military helicopter that landed in a field.
Wahidullah Kakar / AP
Local residents gather around a military helicopter that landed to evacuate injured victims of the earthquake, in a field in Mazar Dara on September 1, 2025.
Two boys sit atop a pile of rubble that was once a house made of stone and timbers.
Sayed Hassib / Reuters
Afghan boys sit on the rubble of a house following the earthquake that struck on Sunday, in Lulam village, in Nurgal district of Kunar province, on September 3, 2025.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
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