A powerful earthquake struck a remote border region of Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan overnight, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more, officials said on Wednesday, with the toll expected to rise as desperate rescuers dig through the collapsed dwellings.
Video: A devastating earthquake on early Wednesday morning has killed and injured hundreds of people in southeastern Afghanistan. The epicenter was near Khost city and officials said the majority of casualties were reported in Paktika.#TOLOnews pic.twitter.com/9x5hD3zj1W
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) June 22, 2022
The Taliban government officials said houses were reduced to rubble and bodies swathed in blankets lay on the ground after the strong jolts. An unknown number of people remained stuck under rubble and in outlying areas, they added.
“People are digging grave after grave,” said Amin Huzaifa, head of the Information and Culture Department in hard-hit Paktika province, adding that at least 1,000 people had died in that province alone. He said more than 1,500 people were injured, many critically.
“We believe that nearly 2,000 homes are destroyed,” the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, told reporters. The country’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada warned the death toll would likely rise further.
Deeply grieved to learn about earthquake in Afghanistan, resulting in loss of innocent lives. People in Pakistan share the grief & sorrow of their Afghan brethren. Relevant authorities working to support Afghanistan in this time of need.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 22, 2022
Rescue operations were complicated by difficult conditions, including heavy rains, landslides and many villages being nestled in inaccessible hillside areas. The Taliban-led ministry of defence said it was leading rescue efforts.
Loretta Hieber Girardet from the United Nations’ disaster risk reduction office said efforts to provide relief and save people trapped under rubble would face huge challenges due to the terrain and weather.
“The roads are poor even at the best of times so having a humanitarian operation put in place is going to be immediately challenged by the lack of easy access to the area,” she said, adding that rain combined with the tremor created a further risk of landslides for rescue workers.
I am saddened over loss of precious lives by earthquake in Afghanistan & express my sympathies with the affectees. I pray for the deceased, the injured & offer condolences to bereaved families. Pakistan stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan in this hour of need.
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) June 22, 2022
Interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi said the death toll from the deadliest quake in the country since 2002, was likely to rise “as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details”.
The earthquake struck about 44 kilometres from the southeastern city of Khost, near the border with Pakistan, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. Tremors were also felt in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
In Pakistan, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said that at least two people died and four houses were partially damaged due to a 5.9 magnitude earthquake and heavy downpour.
چیئرمین پی پی پی اور وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا افغانستان میں زلزلے کی تباہ کاریوں پر اظہار افسوس
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) June 22, 2022
افغانستان میں زلزلے کے نتیجے میں سینکڑوں قیمتی انسانی جانوں کا ضیاع باعث صدمہ ہے، وزیرخارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری@BBhuttoZardari
According to the PDMA, one person, identified as Kashif Khan, a resident of Darra Pezzu in Lakki Marwat died when the roof of his room collapsed due to jolt, adding that one Mashal Shah of Nowshera district died also of roof collapse due to heavy downpour.
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The EMSC put the earthquake’s magnitude at 6.1, while the USGC and Pakistan’s PDMA reported it was 5.9. Experts say that impoverished hilly areas struck by the quake were especially vulnerable, because of landslides and poorly-built houses.
Afghanistan’s Paktika province was the worst affected so far. “All the houses in our area were destroyed, not one, but the entire region has been destroyed,” said Gul Faraz, a Paktika native, who lost some of his relatives. Some 25 people were dead and 90 injured in the Khost province.
My condolences & prayers go to the Govt & people of Afghanistan for the loss of lives suffered in the earthquake. I have asked the KP Govt to especially facilitate provision of all medical assistance.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 22, 2022
Afghanistan is also grappling with a severe economic crisis. Many countries have imposed sanctions on Afghanistan’s banking sector and cut billions of dollars in development aid. However, humanitarian aid has continued from international agencies such as the UN.
The quake further complicated the challenge for Afghan authorities after recent flooding in many regions, which has blocked stretches of highway. Afghan foreign ministry spokesman said the Taliban would welcome international help.
“The government is working within its capabilities,” tweeted Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official. “We hope that the International Community & aid agencies will also help our people in this dire situation.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations was fully mobilised, assessing the needs and providing initial support. “We count on the international community to help support Afghan families. Now is the time for solidarity,” he said in a statement.
In Washington, the White House said that President Joe Biden had directed the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other federal government partners to assess US response options.
In Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives due to the earthquake in Afghanistan and vowed to provide relief assistance to the affected people. He said Pakistan would provide all possible assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
“We are with our Afghan brothers and sisters in this difficult time,” Shehbaz said, adding that he had issued directives to the Pakistani authorities concerned to provide necessary relief assistance to the government of Afghanistan.
The Foreign Office also extended condolences over the loss of lives in Afghanistan. “Our authorities and institutions are working to extend required assistance to Afghanistan in coordination with their relevant institutions,” it said in a statement.
In Rawalpindi, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release said that The armed forces of Pakistan were ready to extend all possible humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan, facing severe life and property losses due to extreme natural disasters.
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