Rescuers are battling to reach remote mountainous areas cut off from mobile networks along the Pakistani border, where mudbrick homes dotting the slopes collapsed in the quake.

Shams Mamond, an Afghan Australian, was in Jalalabad city in Nangarhar province when the earthquake struck. Credit: Supplied

Families rushed out of their homes, young and old running together in fear as walls cracked and roofs crumbled. In the chaos, some managed to escape with only minor injuries, but others were not as fortunate.

Mamond said he travelled to nearby Kunar province, one of the worst-affected regions, to help those impacted.

The magnitude-6.0 earthquake is one of Afghanistan’s worst. It was just past midnight when the ground shook violently, tearing through the silence of Kunar, a village in Afghanistan on Monday. Source: EPA / Samiullah Popal

“These families are in great need, and I felt it was my responsibility to be here with them during this difficult time.

While the UK has announced it will send US$1.35 million ($2.6 million) in assistance — split between the United Nations Population Fund and the International Red Cross — the Australian government has yet to announce any aid.

At least 800 people have been killed and some 2,000 injured as a result of the earthquake. Source: EPA / Stringer

International community responds

The US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs posted its condolences on X on Monday for the loss of life in the earthquake, but did not immediately respond when asked if the United States would provide any assistance.

“We need it because here lots of people lost their lives and houses,” he said.

The quake’s epicentre was 27km away from Jalalabad, Afghanistan’s fifth-largest city in the eastern Nangarhar province.

‘We need urgent help’

“This is Mazar Dara in Nurgal district. The entire village has been destroyed,” one victim told reporters. “Children and elders are trapped under the rubble. We need urgent help.”

Casualties could rise as rescue teams access more isolated locations, authorities said. Source: AP / Nangarhar Media Center

Another survivor said: “We need ambulances, we need doctors, we need everything to rescue the injured and recover the dead.”