An earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 255 people, authorities said.
Information remained scarce on the magnitude 6 earthquake that struck Paktika province, but it comes as the transnational community largely has left Afghanistan after the Taliban preemption of the country last time amid the chaotic pullout of the U.S. service from the longest war in its history. This will complicate any relief actions for Afghanistan with a population of nearly of 38 million people.
The state- run Bakhtar news agency reported the death risk and said saviors were arriving by helicopters. The news agency’s director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 houses have been destroyed in Paktika and dozens of people are believed to have been trapped under the debris.
Footage from Paktika province near the Pakistan border showed victims being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area. Images extensively circulating online from the region showed destroyed stone houses, with residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble.
Bakhtar posted footage of an occupant entering IV fluids from a plastic president outside the debris of his home and others sprawled on gurneys.
“A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses. We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe.”
Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government
The nearby Pakistan’s Meteorological Department assessed the earthquake to be at a magnitude of 6.1. Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, and other areas of the eastern Punjab province experienced tremors.
According to the European Seismological Center (EMSC), 119 million indians, Pakistan, and Afghanistan experienced the earthquake’s shocks across such a distance of 500 kilometres (310 miles).
As the Indian plate boundary clashes with the Eurasian plate to the north, mountainous Afghanistan and the greater region of South Asia have long been susceptible to destructive earthquakes. Over 200 people had been killed in Afghanistan and bordering northern Pakistan in 2015 by a significant earthquake that slammed the nation’s northeast.
Image source: mathrubhumi
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