More than 800 people died in Afghanistan 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan, killing hundreds and wounding thousands more.
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 2 (Reuters) – The death toll from Afghanistan’s worst earthquake exceeded 1,100 on Tuesday, causing thousands more injured, and aid groups as difficult terrain hampered rescue efforts in isolated villages in the country’s eastern mountainous regions.
At least 1,124 people have been killed, 3,251 have been injured and more than 8,000 homes have been destroyed, Afghanistan’s Red Crescent Association, a humanitarian group working in the area, added that more people are threatened to be trapped under the tiled rub.
The UN coordinator in Afghanistan said the tolls are likely to rise.
Afghanistan is prone to fatal earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush Mountains, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
The quake was a six-earthquake, struck at a shallow depth of 10 km (6 miles) around midnight local time on Monday, with the worst hits in the eastern part of Kunar and Nangarhar.
The rescue efforts were carried out on Monday in four heavily attacked villages in Kunar, and the efforts are now focused on reaching more remote mountainous areas, said Esanula Esan, head of disaster management.
“We can’t accurately predict the number of bodies trapped under the tiled rub,” Esan said. “Our efforts are to complete these businesses as soon as possible and begin distributing assistance to affected families.”
Mountainous terrain and bad weather hampered rescuers reaching remote areas along the Pakistan border, where trembling flattened hundreds of mud and block homes.
Vehicle access along narrow mountain paths was the main obstacle, Asan added that the machinery was being brought onto clear roads with debris.
A helicopter flew in and brought aid supplies and took the injured to the hospital on Tuesday, and found an ambulance line that was about to arrive in Kunar’s village was on a broken mountain path, according to Reuters witnesses.
Several of the injured were transferred to hospitals in Kabul and adjacent Nangarhar province, Esan said.
Thousands of children were at risk, the United Nations Children’s Fund warned Tuesday.
UNICEF said it sends hygiene products such as medicines, warm clothing, tents, tarpoline, soaps, detergents, towels, sanitary pads and water buckets for shelters.
Taliban soldiers were deployed in the area to provide support and safety. The disaster further expands the Taliban regime of war-torn countries, already tackling a sharp decline in foreign aid and the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Afghans by neighboring countries.
Rescue services and authorities are attempting to quickly dispose of animal bodies to minimize the risk of contamination of water resources, UN officials said Monday.
“Damaged roads, continuous aftershocks and many remote villages are seriously hindering the provision of aid,” the World Health Organization said, adding that more than 12,000 people were affected by the earthquake.
“The pre-earth vulnerability of the health system means that local capabilities are overwhelming and completely dependent on external actors,” he said.
Safiullah Noorzai of Aseel, a humanitarian technology platform with networks around Afghanistan, said food and tents were desperately needed. Nursai added that their homes became abandoned and many people lived openly amid fears of aftershocks.
Reducing aid
Rescue and relief efforts struggle in the face of harsh resources in a war-torn poor country of 42 million people, and global support is limited in the aftermath of tragedy.
So far, the UK has allocated £1 million ($1.35 million) to support the UN and the International Red Cross’ efforts to provide critical health care and emergency supplies.
India had delivered 1,000 tents and had moved 15 tonnes of food supplies to Kunar with more relief materials than would be sent on Tuesday.
Other countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, Pakistan and Iran have vowed to help, but aid has not yet arrived.
Afghanistan was hit badly by US President Donald Trump’s decision in January to cut funds to cut and cut other foreign aid programs.
Diplomats and aid officials say there is a crisis elsewhere in the world, and a grievance with the Taliban’s women’s policies towards women and the curb for aid workers.
(Reporting by Sayed Hassib in Mazar Dara, Kunar, written by Mohammad Yunus Yawal, Kabul, Charlotte Greenfield, Islamabad, edited by Michael Perry, YP Rajesh, and Raju Gopalaackunan))
