Afghanistan earthquake kills more than 800

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) — A massive rescue operation was underway in Afghanistan Monday after a strong earthquake and multiple aftershocks flattened homes in the impoverished nation, killing more than 800 people, the interior ministry said.

The earthquake struck just before midnight, shaking buildings from Kabul to neighboring Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

Some 800 people died and another 2,500 were injured in Kunar, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference in the capital Kabul, adding that in neighboring Nangarhar province 12 people were killed and another 255 injured.

The Taliban authorities and the United Nations mobilized rescue efforts to hard-hit areas.

“The U.N. in Afghanistan is deeply saddened by the devastating earthquake that struck the eastern region & claimed hundreds of lives,” the U.N. said on X, saying teams were on the ground “delivering emergency assistance & lifesaving support.”

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 5 miles, was 17 miles from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage than deep tremors.

Frequent quakes

A series of aftershocks followed throughout the night, including a powerful and shallow 5.2-magnitude quake in the predawn hours.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

Nangarhar province was also hit by flooding overnight Friday to Saturday, which killed five people and destroyed crops and property, provincial authorities said.

In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude quake 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 humanitarian disaster.

With the return of the Taliban, foreign aid to Afghanistan has shrunk dramatically, undermining the already impoverished nation’s ability to respond to disasters.

In 2015, more than 380 people were killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake ripped across the two countries, with the bulk of the deaths in Pakistan.

In that disaster, 12 young Afghan girls were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their shaking school building.

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By Agence France-Presse