Seismic shifts: How a humanitarian sector in upheaval responded to the 2025 Afghanistan earthquake

The earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on 31 August 2025 was a devastating shock for the mountain communities of Kunar and Nangarhar, and a test for the humanitarian sector operating under radically changed conditions. How would the system respond to a rapid-onset disaster in the context of severe funding cuts and a pariah host state? 

A research team examined the crisis response in the weeks following the disaster, conducting on-site interviews with affected people and local responders, as well as national and international humanitarian actors and donor representatives. This report represents an initial snapshot, analysing the challenges to the response, the roles of different actors, and how the aid system is struggling to respond to a dramatically different funding landscape as well as the ethical and operational costs of working amid the systematic exclusion of women.

This report is the latest in a series of rapid reviews conducted by Humanitarian Outcomes under the Humanitarian Rapid Research Initiative (HRRI), commissioned and supported by the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub (UKHIH)/Elrha with UK aid from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).