A massive rescue operation was under way in Afghanistan on Monday, after a strong earthquake and multiple aftershocks flattened homes in a remote, mountainous region, killing more than 800 people, the Taliban authorities said.
The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, was 27 kilometres from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Nangarhar and Kunar provinces border Pakistan, with the Torkham crossing, the site of many waves of Afghan returnees deported or forced to leave, often with no work and nowhere to go.
The earthquake struck just before midnight, shaking buildings from capital Kabul to Islamabad in Pakistan. After the initial quake, a series of at least five aftershocks followed throughout the night, with the strongest being one of magnitude 5.2 just after 4am (2330 GMT on Sunday).
More than 1.2 million people likely felt strong or very strong shaking, according to the USGS.
Near the epicentre in the east of Afghanistan, around 800 people were killed and 2,500 injured in remote Kunar province alone, chief Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Another 12 people were killed and 255 injured in neighbouring Nangarhar province, he added.
“Numerous houses were destroyed,” interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP.
The majority of Afghans live in low-rise, mud-brick homes that are vulnerable to collapse.
Some of the most severely impacted villages in remote Kunar provinces “remain inaccessible due to road blockages”, the UN migration agency warned in a statement to AFP.
Afghanistan’s government-run Bakhtar News Agency reported citing officials from the Disaster Management Department in Kunar that “the most severely impacted districts include Noor Gul, Chawkay, Watapur, Mano Gai, and Chapa Dara”.
Three villages were razed in the province of Kunar, with substantial damage in many others, the health ministry earlier said.
The Taliban authorities and the United Nations mobilised rescue efforts to hard-hit areas. The defence ministry said 40 flight sorties had so far been carried out.
A member of the agricultural department in Kunar’s Nurgal district said people had rushed to clear blocked roads to isolated villages, but that badly affected areas were remote and had limited telecoms networks.
“There is a lot of fear and tension … Children and women were screaming. We had never experienced anything like this in our lives,” Ijaz Ulhaq Yaad told AFP.
He said that many living in quake-hit villages were among the more than four million Afghans who have returned to the country from Iran and Pakistan in recent years.
“They wanted to build their homes here.”
Images from Reuters Television showed helicopters ferrying out the affected, while residents helped soldiers and medics carry the wounded to ambulances.
Rescuers were scrambling to find survivors in the area bordering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where homes of mud and stone were levelled by the midnight quake that hit at a depth of 10 kilometres.
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.
Condolences
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed grief over the incident and extended his condolences.
“I stand in full solidarity with the people of Afghanistan after the devastating earthquake that hit the country earlier today,” he said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also extended condolences over the loss of life.
“Deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, which shook Kabul & was also felt in various parts of Pakistan, including Islamabad. With reports confirming hundreds of precious human lives lost & villages destroyed, our hearts go out to the victims and their families. On behalf of the people and Government of Pakistan, I extend my heartfelt condolences & prayers to the bereaved families,” he said on X.
He added, “We stand in solidarity with our Afghan brothers & sisters in this hour of grief, and we are ready to extend all possible support in this regard.”
Following earlier reports of casualties, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said he was “extremely saddened by the tragic loss of over 300 lives and the many injuries”.
“My deepest condolences go out to the families who have lost their loved ones and heartfelt prayers for full and quick recovery of those injured. This immense sorrow is felt by us all,” he said on X.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Karim Kundi also expressed grief over the “loss of hundreds of lives and large-scale financial damages caused by a powerful earthquake”.
In his condolence message, Kundi “extended heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured. He said the people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with the Afghan government and people during this difficult time.”
Deadly quakes
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
In October 2023, western Herat province was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake[1], which killed more than 1,500 people and damaged or destroyed more than 63,000 homes.
In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude quake[2] struck the impoverished eastern border province of Paktika, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
Ravaged by four decades of war, Afghanistan is already contending with a series of humanitarian crises.
Since the return of the Taliban[3], foreign aid to Afghanistan has been slashed, undermining the already impoverished nation’s ability to respond to disasters.
References
- ^ 6.3-magnitude earthquake (www.dawn.com)
- ^ 5.9-magnitude quake (www.dawn.com)
- ^ return of the Taliban (www.dawn.com)