The number of fatalities after Afghanistan’s earthquake has risen to at least 622, with over 1500 injured and numerous villages damaged, according to officials on Monday. The country was struck with a powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake at 11:47pm local time (GMT +4:30) on Sunday.
The quake, which hit at a shallow depth of 8 kilometres (5 miles), which are said to cause more damage. The epicentre of the earthquake was in the Kunar province, about 27 kilometres (17 miles) away from the Jalalabad, the fifth-largest city in the nation, said the US Geological Survey. It hit a several towns in the Kunar province.
A spokesperson for the ministry of public health, Sharafat Zaman, said, “Rescue operations are still underway there, and several villages have been completely destroyed. The figures for martyrs and injured are changing. Medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area.”
Earlier state-run broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) put the toll at about 500 and the Kunar Disaster Management Authority said in a statement that at least 250 people were killed and 500 others injured in the districts of Nur Gul, Soki, Watpur, Manogi and Chapadare.
Many areas were not able to report casualty figures and death toll and number of injuries is expected to change, he added.
Jalalabad, one of the nearby areas that was affected, is a busy trade city due to its proximity with neighbouring Pakistan, hosting a key border crossing between the countries. The tremors were felt as far away as Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, more than 300 kilometres (186 miles) away.
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on October 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished.
The UN gave a far lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.
