Afghanistan Earthquake

Doctors Without Borders is responding to deadly earthquake in Afghanistan

Just before midnight local time on 31 August 2025, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border. Local sources report more than 1,400 people killed and more than 3,000 injured across four eastern provinces, including Kunar and Nangarhar. 

Doctors Without Borders assessed needs and distributed emergency kits in Jalalabad

On Tuesday 2 September 2025, a Doctors Without Borders team reached Jalalabad, a city close to the epicentre, which has become a hub of the emergency response.  

The team went there to assess the needs in the affected area to prepare for a potential medical intervention. Our colleagues visited the regional hospital in Jalalabad, where more than a hundred people injured in the earthquake have received surgery, and where around 600 patients have been admitted so far. The hospital was already full before the earthquake, and health workers are working at full capacity with lack of supplies. We distributed emergency kits and are planning to visit other affected areas to potentially offer support. 

Doctors Without Borders is ready to collaborate with local authorities and health organizations present there. We will soon have better visibility on how we can best provide care to communities in Nangarhar, Kunar and Laghman provinces. 

Doctors Without Borders is providing support in Kuhar province

After the earthquake and aftershocks that struck Afghanistan’s eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangahar between 31 August and 4 September, around half a million people are in need of urgent health assistance, according to the UN.

Doctors Without Borders is providing medical support in Patang camp, Kunar province, where around 1,000 affected families are being relocated. Medical teams are carrying out outpatient consultations, including wound dressing, outbreak prevention, routine vaccination, women’s health and mental health. In addition, Doctors Without Borders teams distributed 10 small water tanks with a capacity of around 3,000 litres per tank to the displaced population in Zerai Baba camp and installed 10 latrines.

 “We treated patients while our teams continued building the clinic, mostly for fever and wound care. In the camp the weather is very hot, and you can see hundreds of tents, with people who keep coming in, we do our best to provide support,” said Ghausuddin Sabir, Doctors Without Borders emergency nurse.

Affected communities are still traumatised, processing the loss of their homes and loved ones, and in need of basic items such as clothes, hygiene kits and shelter. They need protection, especially children, some of whom lost their entire families.

An urgent assessment is needed to determine the full scale of the humanitarian crisis

It is difficult to assess at this stage, but such an earthquake in a hard-to-reach area has already resulted in a devastating human toll. Hospitals keep receiving patients who have mainly sustained trauma injuries, but many bodies remain under the rubble according to local sources. We fear the spread of diseases resulting from lack of basic hygiene, since access to clean water can become very challenging. The destruction of infrastructure has an impact on survivors’ living conditions, which is going to further exacerbate their needs. 

While the full extent of the damage and needs is still being evaluated, there is no doubt that an urgent response from humanitarian and health actors is needed to provide assistance to the affected populations. 

Was Doctors Without Borders already present in the areas affected by the earthquake?

Doctors Without Borders has no medical activities running in the areas most affected by the earthquake. Since we have no presence in Kunar province, it is difficult for us to have any clear visibility of the situation in the area where most of the damage occurred. 

Currently, there are three main hospitals that are responding to the emergency: Nangarhar regional hospital, Kunar provincial hospital and Laghman provincial hospital. Health organizations from the UN and humanitarian organisations started providing support.