An earthquake of 6.1 magnitudes struck Afghanistan early on June 22, 2022, injuring over 1,500 people, with the death toll projected to rise. Over 1,000 people have been murdered, with hundreds more injured. The 6.1 magnitude earthquake destroyed over 3,000 homes and caused extensive damage to public property.

According to Pakistan's Meteorological Department, the earthquake originated in Paktika province, around 50 kilometers southwest of Khost. According to experts, its depth is only 10 kilometers. Shallow earthquakes are more destructive. It is the deadliest earthquake to hit Afghanistan in two decades, posing a significant challenge to the Taliban, the Islamist organization that reclaimed power last year when the Western-backed government fell apart.

The earthquake struck roughly 44 kilometers from Khost, with vibrations reported as far away as Pakistan and India. Witnesses in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Islamabad, Pakistan, reported feeling the tremor. Substantial relief efforts are underway following the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Paktika province in the early hours of June 22.

Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes due to its location in a tectonically active region like the Chaman fault, the Hari Rud fault, the Central Badakhshan fault, and the Darvaz fault. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 7,000 people have died in earthquakes in the country during the last decade. Earthquakes kill an estimated 560 people per year.

Images from the Afghanistan earthquake show landslides and destroyed mud-built homes in the Eastern Paktika province, where rescuers were frantically treating the injured. This earthquake in Afghanistan was the deadliest since 2002. That happened roughly 44 kilometers southeast of Khost, near the Pakistani border.

In Khost province, 25 people were murdered and 90 were hospitalized. Most casualties occurred in Paktika's eastern region, where 255 people were killed and nearly 200 were injured.