Jalalabad (afp) — Rescuers desperately searched Tuesday for survivors in the rubble of homes flattened by an earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 800 people.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake, followed by at least five aftershocks, hit remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan around midnight Sunday.

The head of the Kunar Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told AFP that “operations continued throughout the night.”

He said there were “still injured people left in the distant villages” in need of evacuation to hospitals.

Villagers joined the rescue efforts, using their bare hands to clear debris of simple mud and stone homes built into steep valleys.

Obaidullah Stoman, 26, who traveled to the village of Wadir to search for a friend, was overwhelmed by the level of destruction.

“I’m searching here, but I didn’t see him. It was very difficult for me to see the conditions here,” he told AFP.

The dead, including children, were wrapped in white shrouds by villagers who prayed over their bodies before burying them.

Some of the hardest-hit villages remain inaccessible due to blocked roads, the UN migration agency told AFP.

The earthquake epicenter was about 27 kilometers from Jalalabad, according to the United States Geological Survey, which said it struck at a shallow eight kilometers below the Earth’s surface.

After decades of conflict, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, facing a protracted humanitarian crisis and the influx of millions of Afghans forced back to the country by neighbors Pakistan and Iran in recent years.

Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, foreign aid to the country has been slashed, undermining the impoverished nation’s already hamstrung ability to respond to disasters.

The United States was the largest aid donor until early 2025, when all but a sliver of funds were canceled after President Donald Trump took office.

In June, the United Nations said it was drastically scaling back its global humanitarian aid plans due to the “deepest funding cuts ever.”

On Monday, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement it was working with authorities to “swiftly assess needs, provide emergency assistance and stand ready to mobilize additional support,” and announced an initial $5 million.

Taliban authorities in a provisional toll reported 800 dead and 2,500 injured in Kunar province, as well as 12 dead and 255 injured in Nangarhar.

Laghman province also has dozens of injured, according to government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.