Eastern Afghanistan was the victim of a magnitude 6. 0 earthquake, which left at least 10 people dead and an increase in the number of fatalities expected as information leaves awe in remote mountain villages.
Local sources reported significant damage reported across several districts in the mountainous regions on Monday at around midnight local time (GMT, Sunday).
At least 20 others were reported injured, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Information Ministry claimed that the earthquake had caused more than 250 fatalities and 500 injuries, according to the Anadolu news agency.
According to the report, the casualties occurred in the Kunar province districts of Nur Gal, Sawki, Watpur, Manogi, and Chapa Dara.
The Nangahar province’s center, according to the US Geological Survey, was located 27 kilometers (17 miles) east of the city of Jalalabad. At only 8 kilometers (5 miles) of depth, it occurred.
A few moments later, a fourth magnitude tremor struck Nangahar’s Basawul region.
Aftershocks were felt into the morning, according to Al Jazeera’s Mohsin Momand, who was reporting from Kabul.
“Kunar province recorded the earthquake’s epicentre.” The province of Kunar has suffered a significant earthquake. Additionally, the government claims that Kabul and nearby provinces are sending in emergency teams. He said that the government is making a pledge to use all available resources to help the families that have been affected.
The earthquake’s impact was felt by Pakistan’s neighbors as well.
People in large areas of Pakistan, including those in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, were reportedly woken up late at night by the tremor, according to Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, who was reporting from Lahore.
He claimed that Afghanistan’s earthquake’s devastation was likely to be significant because it had struck at a shallow depth.
“Kunar is a mountainous and impoverished region. The mud and rock-built houses there are extremely fragile. Given that this was shallow, they would not be able to withstand this particular earthquake. Additionally, it occurred late at night, when a large number of people were residing in their homes, according to Hyder.
“The situation there is quite dire, because hundreds of people are feared dead, which is obviously the main concern,” according to one report. These villages are spread out far apart. Access is also challenging, as landslides would have been inevitable as a result of such earthquakes. Therefore, any operation that is about to begin must occur at the designated time of day. That will present the biggest challenge, he continued.
Meanwhile, experts claim that the affected area is located in a region that is prone to large earthquakes.
At the confluence of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, where the Indian plate is moving northward and sliding past some of Eurasia, said Chris Elders, an emeritus professor at Curtin University’s School of Earth at Planetary Sciences in Western Australia.
He claimed that it is a “quite a high population density and a very mountainous” area, which also frequently causes landslides.
He continued, “The hillsides will also shake and become unstable, and that’s what causes the landslide,” adding that “not only the buildings will shake and become unstable, but also the hills will also shake and become unstable.”
At least 2,400 people were killed by an earthquake in western Afghanistan in October 2023, according to the Afghan government.
Source: Aljazeera
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