By FAZEL RAHMAN FAIZI
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A robust earthquake struck a rural, mountainous area of jap Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing 1,000 individuals and injuring 1,500 extra in one of many deadliest quakes in a long time, the state-run information company reported. Officials warned that the already grim toll should rise.
Information remained scarce on the magnitude 6.1 temblor close to the Pakistani border, however quakes of that power could cause severe injury in an space the place houses and different buildings are poorly constructed and landslides are widespread. Experts put the depth at simply 10 kilometers (6 miles) — one other issue that might result in extreme destruction.
The catastrophe posed a significant check for the Taliban-led authorities, which seized energy final yr because the U.S. deliberate to drag out from the nation and finish its longest struggle, 20 years after toppling the identical insurgents within the wake of the 9/11 assaults.
Rescuers rushed to the world by helicopter Wednesday, however the response is more likely to be difficult since many worldwide support businesses left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. Reaching rural areas even in the very best circumstances stays tough in Afghanistan, a landlocked nation simply smaller than Texas with rutted mountain roadways which will now have sustained vital injury.
In mild of these difficulties, a Taliban official requested for worldwide assist.
“When such a big incident happens in any country, there is a need for help from other countries,” mentioned Sharafuddin Muslim. “It is very difficult for us to be able to respond to this huge incident.”
Neighboring Pakistan’s Meteorological Department mentioned the quake’s epicenter was in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the town of Khost. Buildings have been additionally broken in Khost province, and tremors have been felt some 375 kilometers (230 miles) away within the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
Footage from Paktika confirmed males carrying individuals in blankets to ready helicopters. Others have been handled on the bottom. One resident could possibly be seen receiving IV fluids whereas sitting in a plastic chair outdoors the rubble of his dwelling and nonetheless extra have been sprawled on gurneys. Some photos confirmed residents choosing by means of clay bricks and different rubble from destroyed stone homes, a few of whose roofs or partitions had caved in.
The dying toll given by the Bakhtar News Agency was equal to that of a quake in 2002 in northern Afghanistan. Those are the deadliest since 1998, when a 6.1 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tremors in Afghanistan’s distant northeast killed no less than 4,500 individuals.
In most locations on the planet, an earthquake of that magnitude wouldn’t inflict such in depth devastation, mentioned Robert Sanders, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. But a quake’s dying toll extra typically comes all the way down to geography, constructing high quality and inhabitants density.
“Because of the mountainous area, there are rockslides and landslides that we won’t know about until later reporting. Older buildings are likely to crumble and fail,” he mentioned. “Due to how condensed the area is in that part of the world, we’ve seen in the past similar earthquakes deal significant damage.”
The Taliban are nonetheless attempting to reconstitute authorities ministries deserted by workers loyal to its earlier Western-backed authorities, and it was not clear how officers arrived on the casualty tolls reported by Bakhtar.
In Kabul, Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund convened an emergency assembly on the presidential palace to coordinate the aid effort, and Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban authorities, wrote on Twitter to induce support businesses to ship groups to the world.
The “response is on its way,” the U.N. resident coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, wrote on Twitter.
That might show tough given the scenario Afghanistan finds itself in at this time. After the Taliban swept throughout the nation in 2021, the U.S. army and its allies fell again to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport and later withdrew fully. Many worldwide humanitarian organizations adopted swimsuit due to considerations about safety and the Taliban’s poor human rights report.
In the time since, the Taliban has labored with Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on restarting airport operations in Kabul and throughout the nation — however almost all worldwide carriers nonetheless keep away from the nation, and reluctance on the a part of support organizations to place any cash within the Taliban’s coffers may make it tough to fly in provides and tools.
The Afghan Red Crescent Society, nonetheless, despatched some 4,000 blankets, 800 tents and 800 kitchen kits to the affected space, in accordance with Bakhtar’s director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan.
The Italian medical support group Emergency, which nonetheless operates in Afghanistan, mentioned it despatched seven ambulances and workers to the areas closest to the quake zone.
“The fear is that the victims will increase further, also because many people could be trapped under collapsed buildings,” mentioned Stefano Sozza, nation director for Emergency in Afghanistan. “This latest tragedy cannot but worsen further the condition of fragility and economic and social difficulties which Afghanistan has experienced for months.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif mentioned his nation would supply assist. At the Vatican, Pope Francis provided prayers for all these killed and injured and for the “suffering of the dear Afghan population.”
Some distant areas of Pakistan noticed experiences of injury to houses close to the Afghan border, however it wasn’t instantly clear if that was attributable to rain or the earthquake, mentioned Taimoor Khan, a catastrophe administration spokesperson within the space.
The European seismological company, EMSC, mentioned the earthquake’s tremors have been felt over 500 kilometers (310 miles) by 119 million individuals throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Mountainous Afghanistan and the bigger area of South Asia alongside the Hindu Kush mountains has lengthy been weak to devastating earthquakes.
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Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Jon Gambrell and Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”