One of the worst earthquakes in Afghanistan’s history strikes the border region with Pakistan, killing over 800 people and injuring 2,800.
One of the worst earthquakes in Afghanistan’s history struck the border region with Pakistan on Sunday, killing over 800 people and injuring at least 2,800 more.
The quake struck at 11:47 p.m. local time, centered about 17 miles northeast of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province. According to the Taliban junta, most of the casualties occurred in neighboring Kunar province.
“Entire villages in Kunar province have been badly hit. And the government says emergency teams are being deployed from Kabul and nearby provinces. Officials here are pledging to use all available resources to rescue people and support affected families,” Al Jazeera News reported.
“Kunar is an impoverished and mountainous region. The houses there are very vulnerable, built of mud and rocks. So they would not be able to withstand this particular earthquake, given the fact that this was shallow. It also happened late in the night, when a lot of people were inside their homes,” noted Al Jazeera reporter Kamal Hyder.
“These villages are spread wide apart. Access is also very difficult, because such earthquakes would definitely have caused landslides. So whatever operation is going to be underway has to be within the critical hours to reach those remote locations. That will be the biggest challenge,” Hyder said.
A Kunar resident told the UK Guardian on Monday that ten of his own relatives, including five of his children, were killed by the quake.
