Camera captures deadly tremors in Afghanistan: Magnitude 6 quake flattens villages, over 600 dead; buildings reduced to rubble

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6 on the Richter scale hit Afghanistan on late Sunday, claiming over 600 lives and injuring around 1300 others. The earthquake in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border has caused extensive damage, destroying numerous villages and buildings, with the toll reaching 622, according to the interior ministry.

Several videos of the destructive earthquake have gone viral. A CCTV camera captured the strong tremors that occurred at 11:47 pm. US Geological Survey said that it was 8 kilometres deep. It explains that shallower quakes tend to cause more damage.

"Rescue operations are still underway there, and several villages have been completely destroyed. The figures for martyrs and injured are changing. Medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area," Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the ministry of public health, told news agency AP.According to the ministry, the deaths and injuries are expected to increase as rescue operations are under way.

Strong tremors hit a series of towns in Kunar province, near Jalalabad. The quake late Sunday hit a series of towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangahar province.He added that many regions had not been able to report casualties, and "the numbers were expected to change" as death and injuries are reported.