Following an earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 800 people, authorities have commenced massive rescue efforts on Tueaday for survivors in the rubble of homes destroyed by the quake.
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake, followed by at least five aftershocks, hit remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan around midnight Sunday.
The Head of the Kunar Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Ehsanullah Ehsan, who said “operations continued throughout the night, ”added that there were “still injured people left in the distant villages” in need of evacuation to hospitals.
Villagers joined the rescue efforts, using their bare hands to clear debris of simple mud and stone homes built into steep valleys.
The dead, some of them children, were wrapped in white shrouds by villagers who prayed over their bodies before burying them.
According to the USGS, the earthquake epicentre was about 27 kilometres (17 miles) from Jalalabad, which said it struck a shallow eight kilometres below the Earth’s surface.
After decades of conflict, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, facing a protracted humanitarian crisis and the influx of millions of Afghans forced back to the country by neighbours Pakistan and Iran in recent years.
Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, foreign aid to the country has been slashed, undermining the impoverished nation’s already hamstrung ability to respond to disasters.
