AT least 800 people have been killed and over 1,500 injured after multiple earthquakes rocked eastern Afghanistan.
A 6.0 quake, the strongest, struck the Jalalabad area at around midnight local time – with tremors felt as far as Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, nearly 200 miles away.
AFPAn injured Afghan boy receives treatment at a hospital following the earthquakes[/caption]
XMany buildings completely collapsed[/caption]
ReutersTaliban soldiers and civilians carry earthquake victims to an ambulance at an airport in Jalalabad[/caption]
XLocals dragged their belongings outside on Monday morning[/caption]
Towns in the province of Kunar, near Jalalabad and the Pakistani border, were close to the epicentre.
Entire villages are reported to have been destroyed.
Filippo Grandi of the UN told Sky News that the quake has added to the “perfect storm” of problems plaguing Afghanistan.
A Taliban spokesperson said that at least 800 people have been killed and more than 1,500 injured.
Some 610 of the deaths were reported in the Kunar region, and 12 from the Nangarhar province.
Urgent rescue efforts are underway across several districts – amid fears many locals are trapped beneath rubble.
Officials have said they expect the death toll to rise as they get to more affected areas.
Rescuers are contending with difficult, rocky terrain to reach the injured, many of whom are in isolated areas.
A spokesperson for the Taliban government said the quake has caused “loss of life and property damage in some of our eastern provinces”.
They added: “Local officials and residents are currently engaged in rescue efforts for the affected people.
“Support teams from the centre and nearby provinces are also on their way.”
Many of the buildings in the area are made of mud bricks and wood, making them vulnerable to natural disasters.
The 6.0 magnitude quake struck at 11:47pm, 17 miles northeast of Jalalabad, according to the US Geological Survey,
Its epicentre was 5 miles below ground.
There was a second earthquake in the same province about 20 minutes later, with a magnitude of 4.5 and a depth of 6.2 miles.
XLocals scramble to clear the debris left by the quakes[/caption]
AFPCasualties are monitored in hospital[/caption]
XEntire villages have reportedly been reduced to rubble[/caption]
This was later followed by a 5.2 earthquake at the same depth.
Data shows three more quakes of magnitude 4.3, 4.7 and 5.2 over the next six hours.
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan in October 2023, followed by strong aftershocks.
The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake.
AFPA man with an injured leg receiving treatment in a hospital in Jalalabad[/caption]
XHuge concrete walls were brought down by the powerful quakes[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
