More than 600 people were killed and over 1,500 injured in one of Afghanistan?s worst earthquakes, authorities said on Monday, as helicopters ferried the wounded to hospital after they were plucked from rubble being combed for survivors.

The disaster will further stretch the resources of the South Asian nation already grappling with humanitarian crises, from a sharp drop in aid to a huge pushback of its citizens from neighbouring countries.

The quake of magnitude 6.0 killed at least 622 people in the eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar, the Taliban-run Afghan interior ministry said, with more than 1,500 injured and numerous houses destroyed.

?All our ? teams have been mobilised to accelerate assistance, so that comprehensive and full support can be provided,? ministry spokesperson Abdul Maten Qanee told Reuters, citing efforts in areas from security to food and health.

In Kabul, the capital, health authorities said rescuers were racing to reach remote hamlets dotting an area with a long history of earthquakes and floods.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan?s government-run Bakhtar News Agency reported citing officials from the Disaster Management Department in Kunar that ?the most severely impacted districts include Noor Gul, Chawkay, Watapur, Mano Gai, and Chapa Dara?.

Three villages were razed in the province of Kunar, with substantial damage in many others, the health ministry earlier said.

Images from Reuters Television showed helicopters ferrying out the affected, while residents helped soldiers and medics carry the wounded to ambulances.

Rescuers were scrambling to find survivors in the area bordering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where homes of mud and stone were levelled by the midnight quake that hit at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Military rescue teams fanned out across the two affected provinces, the defence ministry said in a statement, adding that 40 flights had carried out 420 wounded and dead.

?So far, no foreign governments have reached out to provide support for rescue or relief work,? a foreign office spokesperson said.

Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

A series of earthquakes in its west killed more than 1,000 people last year, underscoring the vulnerability of one of the world?s poorest countries to natural disasters.

Following earlier reports of casualties, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said he was ?extremely saddened by the tragic loss of over 300 lives and the many injuries?.

?My deepest condolences go out to the families who have lost their loved ones and heartfelt prayers for full and quick recovery of those injured. This immense sorrow is felt by us all,? he said on X.