At least 1,000 people killed after magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Afghanistan, marking deadliest in 2022 so far

• A magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit Afghanistan on Wednesday morning, the US Geological Survey said.
• Officials said at least 1,000 people are dead and 1,500 are injured.

At least 1,000 people were killed after a strong earthquake hit Afghanistan early on Wednesday morning, a local official said. It is the highest death toll from an earthquake this year so far.

The US Geological Survey said it had a magnitude of 5.9.

Mohammad Amin Hozaifa, the information and culture director of the Paktika region, told Reuters that the death toll was at 1,000 and that 1,500 more were injured. He added that "this number might go up, many families have been lost."

The earthquake was recorded 28.6 miles southwest of the city of Khōst, in southeastern Afghanistan, the USGS said. The United Nations said at least 1,800 homes were also destroyed.

Salahuddin Ayubi, a Taliban official with Afghanistan's interior ministry, said earlier on Wednesday that the death toll would likely rise as "some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details," Reuters reported. The death toll stood at 950 when he made those comments.

He also said helicopters were being used to search for people and bring supplies, Reuters reported.

One resident told Reuters: "It was midnight when the quake struck. The kids and I screamed. One of our rooms was destroyed. Our neighbors screamed and we saw everyone's rooms."

Organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross and World Health Organization announced they are working to deliver aid and medical supplies to the impacted areas.

The second-deadliest earthquake in 2022 was in January, when 27 people were killed after an earthquake struck Qadhis district, western Afghanistan.

Wednesday's deadly earthquake comes as Afghanistan continues to be hamstrung by humanitarian crises, economic woes, and sporadic violence, in what has been a turbulant 10 months since the Taliban seized power after US troops left the country in August 2021.