More than 1,000 people were killed in a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – A strong earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday morning, killing more than 1,000 people, according to officials from the country’s ruling Taliban regime. Muhammad Amin Hafiza, head of media and culture in hard-hit Paktika state, told CBS News by phone that the death toll in his province alone had risen to more than 1,000, with more than 1,500 others infected.

“Some families have completely disappeared,” Hafida said, as pictures of collapsed homes surfaced across the area.

Taliban officials and residents inspect damage to homes in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province after a major earthquake on June 22, 2022, in a photo taken by the Afghan government’s Bakhtar News Agency. Bakhtar News Agency

Information was slow to emerge after the 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocked Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces at around 1:30 a.m. local time. The earthquake was felt in large areas of the country, including the capital, Kabul.

The disaster occurred just two months before the first anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. The international community has largely left the country since the Islamist group took control in August 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of the US military. The lack of foreign government staff, international aid agencies, and infrastructure in the country is likely to complicate relief efforts.

?️SHAKE MAP: Seismic intensity scale (Mercalli) of 5.9 degrees today #earthquake.

At a depth of only 10 km, it is strongly felt in the red areas below, where losses and casualties are most likely concentrated.

Life-saving search and rescue efforts are underway. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/5UGv6st2TW

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA Afghanistan) (OCHAAfg) June 22, 2022

In a tweet, Bilal Karimi, a spokesman for the Taliban regime, urged “all relief agencies to immediately send teams to the area to prevent another disaster.”

Video clips and photos spread on social media showed military helicopters rushing to the area to evacuate the wounded.

Mawlawi Elias Nasiri, the regional director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in eastern Afghanistan, said ambulances and rescue workers have arrived at the site, and efforts are underway to find and assist the victims. It was about 3.5 hours’ drive from the provincial capital to the quake zone, he said, and it was possible that some people were still trapped under the rubble.

At least two other organisations, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Italy-based Emergency Medical Charity, said they were mobilizing and deploying resources to help earthquake victims.

Crowds rushed toward a helicopter after it landed in eastern Afghanistan, where a powerful earthquake killed more than 1,000 people. An Interior Ministry official said the planes were being used to reach the wounded and secure medical supplies and food. https://t.co/NMGUP73a3R pic.twitter.com/BfK62ufG4R

– CBS News (@CBSNews) June 22, 2022

Kawthar, a resident of a village in the Jayan Paktika district, told CBS News by phone that 24 people in his village, including his father, were killed when the quake struck, and more than 30 others were injured.

“Two children and two women are among the victims in one family,” he said, urging the government to provide assistance immediately.

28-year-old Juma Khan, a Gayyan resident, told a CBS News reporter by phone that he “wake up” around 1:30 a.m. and quickly realized it was an earthquake.

“I’ve never felt such an earthquake in my entire life,” he told CBS News. “I jumped out of my room and ran into my brother’s room. I collapsed on them, and found his wife dead while my brother and his three children were injured under the rubble. It took eight hours to get them out of the rubble.”

Afghan Red Crescent and military personnel work in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province in the wake of the deadly earthquake on June 22, 2022, in a photo released by officials and the state-run Bakhtar News Agency. Bakhtar News Agency

“Most of the houses in our village collapsed, and dozens were killed and dozens injured as a result of the impact,” Khan said. “People are digging around the rubble with their hands to find those who are still hopelessly alive. Helicopters of the Taliban government are transporting some seriously injured, but the Taliban do not have the resources and equipment to conduct an effective search and rescue mission.”

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said an emergency meeting was held at the presidential palace in Kabul, and officials were instructed to provide all possible assistance to the earthquake victims.

An image circulated on social media shows one of the houses destroyed by the earthquake that hit the eastern Afghan province of Paktika on June 22, 2022.

Eastern Afghanistan, along with neighboring countries along the Hindu Kush mountain range in South Asia, is highly vulnerable to large earthquakes as the mountains lie above an active geological fault line. Many homes, hospitals, and other buildings in the area are poorly constructed and when earthquakes strike they are prone to collapse.

In 2015, a major earthquake in 2015 killed more than 200 people in the area. Another earthquake of a similar magnitude to that of Wednesday in 2002 killed about 1,000 people in northern Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: the new reality more

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