A powerful earthquake has killed at least 280 people and left scores injured in Afghanistan, the country’s state news agency announced.
Pictures shared on social media showed people on stretchers, rubble and ruined homes in the Eastern Paktika province. A report by a news agency said the death toll is likely to rise, adding that more than 600 people were injured. According to the government, the quake struck about 44km (27 miles) from the South-Eastern city of Khost.
Government Spokesman, Bilal Karimi noted in a tweet that “Unfortunately, last night there was a severe earthquake in four districts of Paktika province, which killed and injured hundreds of our countrymen and destroyed dozens of houses”, adding that “We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe”.
Tremors were felt across more than 500km of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, quoted by circulating reports.
The centre said that witnesses reported feeling the quake in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as well as Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. However, there have been no immediate reports of casualties, and the earthquake caused barely any damage there, per reports that have filed in.
Further Details of the Earthquake
The earthquake, which hit during the late night on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, as many people slept, was a magnitude 6.1 quake at a depth of some 51km, according to the US Geological Survey.
The US agency intimated that earthquakes could cause significant damage in Afghanistan, particularly in the many rural areas where many dwellings are not as stable or well-built. Afghanistan is also prone to quakes, as it’s located in a seismically active region, over a number of fault lines including the Chaman fault, the Hari Rud fault, the Central Badakhshan fault and the Darvaz fault.
The United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs disclosed that in the past 10 years, more than 7,000 people have been killed in earthquakes in the country. It also noted that there is an average number of 560 deaths a year from earthquakes.
Further details of this development will soon be updated…
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