Survivors of an earthquake that flattened villages in eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 800 people, spent the night in the open as rescuers worked on Tuesday to pull victims from the rubble.

The 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck late on Sunday, with the worst of the destruction in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan.

Rescuers searched into the night to pull to safety those trapped under the debris of simple mud and stone homes built into steep valleys.

The dead, some of them children, were wrapped in white shrouds by villagers who prayed over their bodies before burying them, while helicopters ferried the wounded to hospitals.

"The rooms and walls collapsed... killing some children and injuring others," said 22-year-old Zafar Khan Gojar, who was evacuated from Nurgal to Jalalabad along with his brother, whose leg was broken.

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, facing a protracted humanitarian crisis and the influx of millions of Afghans forced back to the country by neighbours Pakistan and Iran in recent years.

The earthquake epicentre was about 27 kilometres from Jalalabad, according to the United States Geological Survey, which said it struck a shallow eight kilometres below the Earth's surface.

Around 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured in Kunar alone, near the epicentre, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

"Many people are stuck under the rubble of their roofs," the disaster management head in eastern Kunar province, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told AFP, warning the death toll could rise. Another 12 people were killed and 255 injured in neighbouring Nangarhar province, while 58 people were injured in Laghman province.

Some of the most severely impacted villages in Kunar remain inaccessible due to road blockages, the UN migration agency told AFP.

The UN was working with authorities to "swiftly assess needs, provide emergency assistance and stand ready to mobilise additional support," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement issued on Monday.

An initial US$5 million had been released from the UN's global emergency response fund, he said.

The disaster is unfolding against a grim funding outlook for humanitarian assistance.

The United States was the largest aid donor to Afghanistan until early 2025, when all but a sliver of funds were cancelled after President Donald Trump took office.

In June, the UN said it was drastically scaling back its global humanitarian aid plans due to the "deepest funding cuts ever".

In a post shared by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV said he was "deeply saddened by the significant loss of life" caused by the quake. (AFP)