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The quake struck in several provinces, causing extensive damage. It flattened villages and trapped people under the rubble of homes that were constructed mostly of mud bricks and wood and were unable to withstand the shock.

Rough terrain is hampering rescue and relief efforts, forcing Taliban authorities to send in dozens of commandos to evacuate the injured from places inaccessible by helicopter and other transport.

The casualty figures provided by the spokesman, Mujahid, were just for Kunar province.

“We cannot afford to forget the people of Afghanistan who are facing multiple crises, multiple shocks, and the resilience of the communities has been saturated,” Indrika Ratwatte, the U.N.'s resident coordinator for Afghanistan, told a media briefing on Tuesday.

He urged the international community to step forward. “These are life and death decisions while we race against time to reach people.”

It is since the Taliban in 2021, and the latest crisis to beset Afghanistan, which is reeling from , a weak economy, and forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan.

Ratwatte said that when the walls of wooden and mud homes collapse, the roof falls on to the occupants, causing injury or death. While the area was low-density, the earthquake struck when everybody was asleep.

“If you were to model it based on what has happened before, clearly there’s no question that the casualty rate is going to be rather exponential,” he said.

The Taliban government, which is only recognized by Russia, has appealed for assistance from foreign governments and the humanitarian sector.

However, help for Afghanistan is in short supply due to competing global crises and reduced aid budgets in donor countries.

There is also opposition toward the Taliban government’s restrictive policies on Afghan girls and women, including a on them working for nongovernmental organizations. Earlier this year, the U.S. gutted aid money to Afghanistan, partly due to concerns that to the Taliban government.

Kate Carey, who is the deputy head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, said more than 420 health facilities had closed or were suspended due to the in funding, with 80 of them in the eastern region, the heart of Sunday’s quake.

“The consequence is that the remaining facilities are overwhelmed, have insufficient supplies and personnel, and are not as close to the affected populations as the more local facilities at a time when providing emergency trauma care is needed in the first 24 to 72 hours of the earthquake response,” said Carey.

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Associated Press journalist Jamey Keaten contributed to this report from Geneva.