Ammon News - About 622 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured in an earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan, authorities said on Monday, as helicopters ferried the wounded to safety from rubble being combed in the hunt 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 injured more than 1,500, the Taliban-run Afghan interior ministry said in a statement that put the death toll at 622. Earlier state-run broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) put the toll at about 500.

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

Reports showed 250 dead and 500 injured, said Najibullah Hanif, the provincial information head of Kunar, adding that the tally could change.

Early reports showed 30 dead in a single village, with hundreds of injured taken to hospital, authorities said.

Reuters