Hummingbird News Desk
NEW DELHI, 22 JUNE: Over 1000 people have been killed and 1500 other injured following an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 which hit Paktika province, Afghanistan this morning at around 1.30 am. Disaster management officials said, the toll expected to grow as information trickles in from remote mountain villages. Interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi said authorities had launched a rescue operation and helicopters were being used to reach the injured and take in medical supplies and food.
A severe earthquake struck in the early hours of this morning near the city of Khost in the southeastern part of the country. The most affected areas are in Spera District in Khost Province, and Barmala, Ziruk, Naka and Gayan districts in Paktika Province.
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that an emergency cabinet meeting was held today to discuss assistance for the people affected by the earthquake.
“In addition to helping the people affected by the earthquake, all relevant organizations were tasked to send rescue teams,” he said.
Abdullah Abdullah, the former chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation offered condolences to the people affected by the earthquake.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicentre was 44km from Khost city, and it measured 6.1 on the Richter scale. Search and rescue operations are ongoing and are being led by the de facto authorities.
The disaster comes as Afghanistan continues to struggle with a severe economic crisis since the Taliban took over, as US-led international forces withdrew following two decades of war.
A UN agency said Afghanistan had asked humanitarian agencies to help with rescue efforts, and teams were being dispatched to the quake-hit area.
“The UN and humanitarian country team in Afghanistan expresses deep sympathy to all people affected by this disaster. We will be issuing a flash update later today with further details on the situation and response,” the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in a tweet.
The UN and humanitarian partners have been requested to support the de facto disaster management authority in assessing and responding to immediate needs. “Inter-agency assessment teams have already been deployed to a number of affected areas,” it added.
The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the earthquake’s tremors were felt over 500 kilometers by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Mountainous Afghanistan and the larger region of South Asia along the Hindu Kush mountains has long been vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.
In 2015, a major earthquake that struck the country’s northeast killed over 200 people in Afghanistan and neighbouring northern Pakistan.
In 1998, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tremors in Afghanistan’s remote northeast killed at least 4,500 people.
Image Courtesy@SocialMedia
Tags: #Paktika #Afganistan #AfghanistanEarthquake #earthquake
