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A strong earthquake struck a distant border area of Afghanistan in a single day killing not less than 920 individuals and injuring tons of extra, officers mentioned Wednesday, with the toll anticipated to rise as rescuers dig by collapsed dwellings.
The 5.9 magnitude quake struck hardest within the rugged terrain of the east, the place individuals already dwell hardscrabble lives in a rustic within the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe made worse by the Taliban takeover in August.
The dying toll has climbed steadily all day as information of casualties filtered in from hard-to-reach areas within the mountains, and the nation’s supreme chief, Hibatullah Akhundzada, warned it might possible rise additional.
“Up to now the knowledge we’ve is that not less than 920 individuals have been martyred and 600 injured,” Sharafuddin Muslim, the deputy minister for catastrophe administration, informed a press convention within the capital, Kabul.
Earlier, a tribal chief from Paktika province — one of many hardest-hit areas — mentioned survivors and rescuers had been scrambling to assist these affected.
“The native markets are closed and all of the individuals have rushed to the affected areas,” Yaqub Manzor informed AFP by phone.
Images and video clips posted on social media confirmed scores of badly broken mud homes in distant rural areas.
Some footage confirmed native residents loading victims right into a army helicopter.
Presents of assist
Even earlier than the Taliban takeover Afghanistan’s emergency response groups had been stretched to take care of the pure disasters that ceaselessly struck the nation.
However with solely a handful of airworthy planes and helicopters, a direct response is usually restricted.
“The federal government is working inside its capabilities,” tweeted Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official.
“We hope that the Worldwide Group & support companies will even assist our individuals on this dire scenario.”
The United Nations and European Union had been fast to supply assist.
“Inter-agency evaluation groups have already been deployed to numerous affected areas,” the UN Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Afghanistan tweeted.
Tomas Niklasson, EU particular envoy for Afghanistan, tweeted: “The EU is monitoring the scenario and stands able to coordinate and supply EU emergency help to individuals and communities affected.”
Afghanistan is ceaselessly hit by earthquakes — particularly within the Hindu Kush mountain vary, which lies close to the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
Scores of individuals had been killed and injured in January when two quakes struck rural areas within the western province of Badghis, damaging tons of of buildings.
In 2015, greater than 380 individuals had been killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake ripped throughout the 2 nations, with the majority of the deaths in Pakistan.
From the Vatican Metropolis, Pope Francis provided prayers for the victims of the newest quake.
“I categorical my closeness with the injured and those that had been affected,” the 85-year-old pontiff mentioned on the finish of his weekly viewers.
The newest earthquake got here at a time when Afghanistan is battling a extreme humanitarian catastrophe, worsened by the Taliban takeover of the nation.
Support companies and the United Nations say Afghanistan wants billions of {dollars} this 12 months to sort out the disaster.
Support companies have significantly pressured the necessity for higher catastrophe preparedness in Afghanistan, which stays extraordinarily vulnerable to recurring earthquakes, floods and landslides.
The quake was felt as distant as Lahore in Pakistan, 480 kilometres (300 miles) from the epicentre, based on responses posted on the USGS and European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) web sites.
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