Thursday, 04 September 2025
Thursday, 04 September 2025
Rescue workers in Afghanistan were still pulling bodies from the rubble on Thursday as the confirmed death toll from this week’s twin earthquakes climbed to 2,205, with at least 3,640 people injured.
The Taliban administration warned that the toll may rise further as many remain trapped under debris.
The back-to-back tremors — a magnitude 6.0 quake on Sunday followed by a 5.5 aftershock on Tuesday — devastated Kunar and Nangarhar provinces, cutting off roads, triggering landslides and destroying more than 6,700 homes.
Survivors now face desperate conditions, with the United Nations cautioning that aid resources are fast depleting.
As Afghanistan struggles to cope with one of its worst natural disasters in recent years, here is a look at some of the deadliest earthquakes in modern history, ranked by casualties:
Haiti, 12 January 2010
Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010 claimed more than 316,000 lives, according to Reuters, which reported the figure on the first anniversary of the disaster.
Earlier estimates had placed the death toll at around 250,000. The 7.0-magnitude quake struck at 4:53 pm, its epicentre located 25 km southwest of Port-au-Prince.
The shocks were felt across Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.
The earthquake left hundreds displaced, and over a million were left homeless.
Indian Ocean tsunami (off Sumatra), 26 December 2004
Triggered by a 9.1-magnitude undersea earthquake off Indonesia’s Aceh province, the resulting tsunami killed some 230,000 people across 14 countries.
Waves as high as 17.4 metres devastated coastlines in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and beyond.
Indonesia’s death toll alone exceeded 200,000, with tens of thousands reported dead or missing in Sri Lanka and India, including victims from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Maldives reported over 100 casualties and massive economic losses, while thousands of tourists in the region also perished.
Sichuan (Wenchuan), China, 12 May 2008
Nearly 70,000 people died when a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck China’s Sichuan province.
The quake flattened villages, destroyed an estimated 1.5 million homes and 7,000 classrooms, and killed about 10,000 children who were trapped when their schools collapsed.
The epicentre was near Dujiangyan, 80 km from Chengdu, at a depth of 19 km.
Almost five million people were left homeless.
Pakistan occupied-Kashmir, 8 October 2005
At least 79,000 people were killed when a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck 19 km northeast of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied-Kashmir.
More than 32,000 buildings collapsed in the region, with damage reported in northern India and Afghanistan as well.
The earthquake destroyed property in Pakistani cities including Islamabad and Lahore, while parts of Jammu and Kashmir such as Srinagar and Anantnag also saw extensive losses.
Turkey–Syria (twin quakes), 6 February 2023
Twin earthquakes of magnitudes 7.8 and 7.7 struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, killing over 50,700 people and injuring 107,000.
The first quake was centred near Kahramanmaraş, followed hours later by a second near the same region.
Turkey alone reported nearly 46,000 deaths, with Hatay and Kahramanmaraş provinces the worst hit.
In Syria’s Aleppo province, devastation was widespread. About 9.1 million people were directly affected, and millions were displaced.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) said 280,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, with another 710,000 heavily impacted.
With inputs from Reuters
