At least 622 people died and more than 1,500 were injured as a result of a powerful earthquake that occurred in the east of Afghanistan. This was reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country, which is under the control of the Taliban. This is reports The Guardian.
According to the US Geological Survey, the epicenter of the earthquake was in Kunar province, about 27 kilometers northeast of Jalalabad, the administrative center of Nangarhar province. The first tremor with a magnitude of 6.4 was recorded at 23:47 local time, and twenty minutes later another earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 occurred in the same province.
The most injured and killed were found in Nur-Gul, Soki, Vatpur, Manogi and Chapadare districts. Tremors were felt even in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and in Islamabad, the capital of neighboring Pakistan.
Rescue services are trying to reach hard-to-reach mountain areas, but destroyed roads and communication problems make operations difficult. The Afghan authorities have already turned to international organizations for help. Afghanistan traditionally belongs to the zones of increased seismic danger, especially in the area of the Hindu Kush mountain range, where the Indian and Eurasian lithospheric plates collide.
We will remind you that in 2023, a series of earthquakes in the west of Afghanistan led to the death of more than a thousand people. In particular, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 occurred on October 7, after which the aftershocks continued. According to the Taliban government, the death toll reached about 4,000 people, while the UN reported about 1,500 victims. This natural disaster has become the largest in terms of the number of casualties in Afghanistan in recent years.
