Afghanistan killed over 800 after strong earthquake

The United Nations Humanitarian Agency has said that more than 800 people have been killed – and around 3,000 have been injured – after a quantitative earthquake, East Afghanistan has said just before midnight on Sunday.

Most of the deaths are in Kunar province, officials say, warning that the toll of death may increase considerably as the entire village has been destroyed by earthquakes.

The epicenter is in a remote mountainous region, making it difficult for rescue operation. A Taliban official said, “The scale of destruction is unimaginable.”

The disaster is described as an unprecedented crisis of a severe drought, aid cut and the unprecedented crisis of hunger from the world food program.

The earthquake on Sunday on 23:47 (19:47 GMT), the fifth largest city in the country in Eastern Nangarhar province, some 27 km (17 mi) from Jalalabad.

Faridullah Fazli was sleeping at home in Asadabad on the banks of the Kunar River, and the jerk awakened him.

He said, “There was a very strong earthquake, which was very scary with sounds,” he told the BBC.

“We didn’t sleep till morning. After the earthquake, there were small shocks, and still there.”

Fazli said he went to the clinic in the city, helping the dead to help and injured in an ambulance to take a hospital to the south in Nangarhar province.

“It was a very scary situation, just an atmosphere of fear and terror,” said Fazli.

A resident of Mazar Dara in the Naragal region said that 95% of the village was destroyed – and there were five to 10 injured people in each house.

The worst damage was in the Kunar – a rugged, mountainous region with limited farm.

Roads in the area are often curved mud around the mountains – homes are made of soil, stones and mud.

The region has seen large -scale floods and landslides in the last few days, blocking access to many areas.

Along with blocked roads, rescue operations can only be done by air, and teams were unable to reach the area by morning as the helicopters could not land in the mountains at night.

However, since then more than 100 flights have been held in clear weather.

An Taliban official in Kunar province said, “The entire village is flattened, roads for deep mountainous areas are still closed. So now, for us, priority is not being found dead under the debris, but reaching those injured,” said a Taliban official in Kunar province.

“Most of the dead are under the debris. We are doing everything, but it does not seem possible soon,” he said.

There are cases of people who are trapped under the rubble for hours and are allegedly dying as they were waiting for the rescue team.

Syed Rahm – One of those who participate in the defense – says that many people have been rescued, yet there are fear for others.

“Some people sent us messages that there are houses that have been destroyed, and some people are still under rocks,” they told the BBC.

The main hospital of Jalalabad was already overwhelmed, being correct at the center of the crossing point for tens of thousands of Afghans to be taken out of the border of Pakistan.

On Monday, it was quite chaotic – the injured, helpless relatives are still walking around the place in search of their loved ones, volunteers and rescue teams.

An inconsistent woman said that she had lost family members in the earthquake, while an old man was surprised and lost – and was unable to talk to anyone.

A doctor said that about 460 victims were brought since the earthquake – 250 accepted, others treated and discharged.

Internet connectivity in those areas is very limited, making communication and coordination difficult.

Since August 2021, Afghanistan has been under the control of the Taliban, whose government is recognized only by Russia.

Many aid agencies and non-governmental organizations suspended their work in Afghanistan with the arrival of the Hardline Islamic group in power.

Most of the foreign donations for Afghanistan have been suspended and the international restrictions, which were in power for the first time in the 1990s, are back even when the Taliban was in power – although the exemption for human relief.

The Taliban government has initiated an appeal.

Afghanistan is not a stranger for earthquake as it sits on many mistakes lines.

In 2023, a range of earthquakes in Herat province killed over 1,000 people, killing a year later in Pakistan province after a similar number.

The latest earthquake was so deadly because it was very shallow – it was killed at a depth of 8 km (5 mi) – and the capital Kabul, as well as 140 km away in neighboring Pakistan. To be classified as shallow, a earthquake should be less than 70 km from the surface.

Shallow earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, especially in the foothills of the Himalayas where tectonic plates are slipping into each other’s past.