Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 900 people and injured 3,000 more in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government.

The 6.0 magnitude quake struck late Sunday night in several provinces, flattening villages and leaving people trapped under the rubble of homes constructed mostly of mud bricks and wood and unable to withstand the shock.

Images released by Afghanistan's Public Health Ministry showed funeral prayers, an injured person carried on a stretcher and people frantically digging through the rubble.

The majority of casualties were in Kunar province, where many people live in steep river valleys separated by high mountains.

Helicopters were being used to evacuate the injured to hospital, and aid agencies said their teams were making journeys on foot to reach the most isolated areas because of the rough terrain and ruined roads.

The quake at 11:47 p.m. was centered 27 kilometers (17 miles) east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

It was just 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep.

Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.

It is the third major earthquake since the Taliban seized power in 2021, and the latest crisis to beset Afghanistan, which is reeling from deep cuts to aid funding, a weak economy, and millions of people forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan.