An earthquake in Afghanistan’s east has killed at least 800 people, injured 2,800 and destroyed numerous villages, a spokesman for the Taliban government said on Monday.
The 6.0 magnitude quake late on Sunday hit a series of towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangahar province, causing extensive damage.
The quake at 11.47pm local time was centred 25km east-northeast of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, the US Geological Survey said. It was just 8km deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage.
Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani confirmed the casualty figures, saying the late-night quake killed 610 people and injured 1,300 in Kunar. Many houses were destroyed.
The health ministry said that accurate casualty figures had yet to be gathered in an area of scattered hamlets with a long history of earthquakes and flooding.
“The number of casualties and injuries is high, but since the area is difficult to access, our teams are still on site,” health ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said in a statement.
Hundreds of injured were taken to hospital, said Najibullah Hanif, the provincial information head, with figures likely to rise as reports arrived from remote areas with few roads.
Rescuers were working in several districts of the mountainous province where the quake hit, destroying homes of mud and stone on the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, officials said.
Afghanistan is prone to deadly earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
Jalalabad is a bustling trade city due to its proximity with neighbouring Pakistan and a key border crossing between the countries.
Although it has a population of about 300,000 according to the municipality, its metropolitan area is thought to be far larger.
Most of its buildings are low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, and its outlying areas include homes built of mud bricks and wood. Many are of poor construction.
Jalalabad also has considerable agriculture and farming, including citrus fruit and rice, with the Kabul river flowing through the city.
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on October 7th, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake.
The UN gave a lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory. – Reuters/AP