DESPERATE Afghans clawed through rubble in search of missing loved ones after a massive earthquake killed at least 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided today by the Taliban government.

The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage.

The quake, near midnight, was centred 17 miles east-north-east of Jalalabad, the United States Geological Survey said. It was just five miles deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.

Footage showed rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands.

A Taliban government spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference on Monday that most of the casualties were in Kunar.

One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said nearly the entire village had been destroyed.

“Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble,” said the villager, who did not give his name.

“We need help here,” he pleaded. “We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no-one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.”

Eastern Afghanistan is a remote mountainous area. The quake has worsened communications.

Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza Dara area of Nurgal, said he was woken by a deep boom that sounded like a storm approaching.

Like many Afghans, he uses only one name.

“My wife and two sons are dead, and my father is injured and in hospital with me. We were trapped for three to four hours until people from other areas arrived and pulled me out,” he said.