Ahmad* in Afghanistan is 42 years old. He had three daughters and one son. He tells us, ‘I was sleeping outside my house as I like to sleep in an open area. My wife was away, visiting her father's home with my son and one daughter. But my two other daughters were sleeping inside our house.
‘At around 11:40 or 11:45 pm, the earthquake shook the ground heavily. I heard a loud noise, and I saw the roof of my house fall. My two daughters were buried in the rubble.’
Tearfund’s local partner in Eastern Afghanistan is working to bring whatever comfort and support they can to people like Ahmad as they face devastating losses after the south-eastern region of Afghanistan was hit by an earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude just before midnight local time on Sunday night, 31 August 2025.
Buildings from Kabul to Islamabad felt the shaking, and news outlets are reporting whole villages in Afghanistan having been flattened.
As at 5 September 2025, three major earthquakes have now hit eastern Afghanistan in six days, killing more than 2,200 people, injuring over 3,600 and destroying entire villages and herds of livestock.
These numbers may still rise as rescue efforts continue, but access to many of those affected is extremely difficult as transport routes are blocked by rubble and landslides.
Many hundreds of houses are confirmed as having been destroyed.
