Afghanistan earthquake: Deaths rise to more than 1,000 and Taliban ask for aid

[MenInG]

At least 1,000 people have been killed and more than 1,500 injured after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake in southeastern Afghanistan, officials have said.

The quake struck about 27 miles (44km) from the city of Khost, close to the country's border with Pakistan, and was at a depth of 31.6 miles (51km), according to the US Geological Survey.

"The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details," interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi said.

The majority of the fatalities were in the province of Paktika. Footage from the area, near the Pakistan border, showed victims being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area.

Its director-general, Abdul Wahid Rayan, wrote on Twitter that 90 homes were destroyed in the province of Paktika and dozens of people are believed to be trapped under the rubble.

"A severe earthquake shook four districts of Paktika province, killing and injuring hundreds of our countrymen and destroying dozens of houses," tweeted Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government.

"We urge all aid agencies to send teams to the area immediately to prevent further catastrophe."

It comes amid an economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control in August last year and the withdrawal of US-led international forces after two decades of war.

Its already fragile economy, heavily dependent on aid, has been crippled by Western sanctions on its banking sector and billions of cuts in aid.

Tremors were felt over a range of around 310 miles (500km) by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said in a tweet.

They extended to the Afghan capital Kabul, as well as Islamabad in Pakistan, according to witness accounts posted on the EMSC website and by Twitter users.

"Strong and long jolts," one witness from Kabul wrote on the EMSC website. "It was strong," said another witness from Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in Pakistan.

Afghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, many in the mountainous Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan.

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake in 2015 killed 399 people in Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan and India.

SKY

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">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.</p>— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) <a href="https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1539500855803658241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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[JaDed]

RIP, the country can’t catch a break, saddening.

 

[Major]

Was this earthquake that happened 2 days ago as i felt it in islamabad it was 2-3 sec one

 

[MenInG]

Kabul: A powerful earthquake struck a remote border region of Afghanistan overnight killing at least 1,000 people and injuring hundreds more, officials said Wednesday, with the count expected to rise as desperate rescuers dig through collapsed dwellings.
The 5.9 magnitude quake struck hardest in the rugged east, where people already lead hardscrabble lives in a country under a humanitarian disaster made worse by the Taliban takeover in August.

"People are digging grave after grave," said Mohammad Amin Huzaifa, head of the Information and Culture Department in hard-hit Paktika, adding that at least 1,000 people had died in that province alone.

"It is raining also, and all houses are destroyed. People are still trapped under the rubble," he told journalists.

The death count climbed steadily all day as news of casualties filtered in from hard-to-reach areas in the mountains, and the country's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, warned it would likely rise further.

Earlier, a tribal leader from Paktika said survivors and rescuers were scrambling to help those affected.

"The local markets are closed and all the people have rushed to the affected areas," Yaqub Manzor told AFP by telephone.

Photographs and video clips posted on social media showed scores of badly damaged mud houses in remote rural areas.

Some footage showed local residents loading victims into a military helicopter.

Offers of help

Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan's emergency response teams were stretched to deal with the natural disasters that frequently struck the country.

But with only a handful of airworthy planes and helicopters left since the hardline Islamists returned to power, any immediate response to the latest catastrophe is further limited.

"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."

The United Nations and European Union were quick to offer assistance.

"Inter-agency assessment teams have already been deployed to a number of affected areas," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Afghanistan tweeted.

Tomas Niklasson, EU special envoy for Afghanistan, tweeted: "The EU is monitoring the situation and stands ready to coordinate and provide EU emergency assistance to people and communities affected."

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes -- especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

Scores of people were killed and injured in January when two quakes struck rural areas in the western province of Badghis, damaging hundreds of buildings.

In 2015, more than 380 people were killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake ripped across the two countries, with the bulk of the deaths in Pakistan.

From the Vatican City, Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of the latest quake.

"I express my closeness with the injured and those who were affected," the 85-year-old pontiff said at the end of his weekly audience.

Aid agencies and the United Nations say Afghanistan needs billions of dollars this year to tackle its ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Aid agencies have particularly stressed the need for greater disaster preparedness in Afghanistan, which remains extremely susceptible to recurring earthquakes, floods and landslides.

The quake was felt as far away as Lahore in Pakistan, 480 kilometres (300 miles) from the epicentre, according to responses posted on the USGS and European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) websites.

NDTV

 

[MenInG]

Was this earthquake that happened 2 days ago as i felt it in islamabad it was 2-3 sec one

The quake was felt as far away as Lahore in Pakistan, 480 kilometres (300 miles) from the epicentre, according to responses posted on the USGS and European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) websites.

 

[ExplicitAI]

R.I.P. Not good hearing this type of news.

 

[Champ_Pal]

The entire Northwest India, Kashmir, Pakistan and Afghanistan are Earth Quake prone.

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Saddened to hear about the earthquake in Afghanistan and the damage it has caused. My heart and prayers goes to all the people in Khost & Paktika. We all should stay united in this hard time and support them as much as we can. <br><br>Humanity has no boundaries. We all are one. &#55358;&#56626;&#55357;&#56911;</p>— Muhammad Rizwan (@iMRizwanPak) <a href="https://twitter.com/iMRizwanPak/status/1539677343370952704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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[SpiritOf1903]

That's awful but something almost inevitable in them regions. Bangladesh and India being ravaged by flooding too

 

[PakLFC]

These people have been suffering so much for ages. If anyone deserves some good luck it is them. Even nature seems to be against them.

 

[MenInG]

KABUL: A deadly 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Afghanistan in the early hours of Wednesday morning has killed around a thousand people and left at least 600 injured, disaster management officials said.

Said to be the worst quake in Afghanistan since 2002, the seismic event occurred 44km from Khost, near the border with Pakistan, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).


The tremors from the quake were felt by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said on Twitter.

The EMSC put the earthquake’s magnitude at 6.1, though the USGS said it was 5.9.

Interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi said the death toll 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.”

However, images and videos coming out of the country showed houses reduced to rubble and bodies swathed in blankets lying on the ground.

An unknown number of people remained stuck under rubble and in outlying areas, health and aid workers said, while rescue operations were complicated by difficult conditions including heavy rains, landslides and many villages being nestled in inaccessible hillside areas.

“Many people are still buried under the soil. Rescue teams have arrived and with the help of locals are trying to take out the dead and injured,” a health worker at a hospital in the hard-hit Paktika province said.

Disaster experts and humanitarian workers said the impoverished hilly areas struck by the quake were especially vulnerable, with landslides and poorly built houses adding to widespread destruction.

Eyewitness accounts

“We were all sleeping at home... and the room fell over us,” said Gul Faraz as he received treatment for injuries with his wife and children at a hospital in Paktika. Some family members had been killed, he said.

“All the houses in our area were destroyed, not one, but the entire region has been destroyed.” Most of the confirmed deaths were in the eastern province of Paktika, where 255 people were killed and more than 200 injured, Ayubi said. In the province of Khost, 25 were dead and 90 had been taken to hospital.

Adding to the challenge for Afghan authorities is recent flooding in many regions, which has blocked stretches of highway.

Hospitals in rural Afghanistan have come under pressure as well. From her hospital bed in Sharan, the capital of Paktika province, tears stream down Bibi Hawa’s face as she tries to grasp her predicament.

At least a dozen members of her family were among those killed. “Where will I go, where will I go?” the 55-year-old asks repeatedly.

As a nurse tries to calm her down, talking to her gently and caressing her forehead, Bibi sighs: “My heart is weak.”

In the room where Bibi is being treated a dozen other women lie on beds – many asleep, some burrowed beneath blankets, others hooked up to vital fluids.

Shahmira is unhurt, but her one-year-old grandson lies in her lap, a large dressing covering his temple.

On the next bed her daughter-in-law is sleeping off her injuries, while a son is being treated in a different ward.

“We were sleeping when we heard a loud noise,” she says.

“I screamed... I thought my family was buried under the rubble and that I was the only one” still alive.

In an adjacent ward, a dozen men are also recovering on beds. One father holds his son on his lap while nearby, another child lies under a blue blanket. His left arm is also in a cast, while on his forehead a white bandage bears the word “emergency” written in black marker.

“There were cries everywhere. The children and my family were under the mud.” Mohammad Yahya Wiar, director of Sharan Hospital, says they have been doing their best to treat everyone.

When the injured arrived, they “were crying, and we were crying too”, he says.

But locals are rallying to help. In front of the hospital, a hundred men are waiting patiently.

“They have come to give blood – about 300 have already given it since this morning,” explains a Taliban fighter.

Assistance from Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Arif Alvi and the military’s top brass expressed their condolences over the loss of life in the quake and pledged to provide all possible humanitarian assistance to people of Afghanistan.

In line with this commitment, a convoy of trucks carrying relief assistance left for Khost on Wednesday night. The relief consignment includes tents, covers, blankets and medicines, which would be handed over to Afghan authorities.

The convoy of trucks carrying relief aid would reach Khost via the Ghulam Khan border.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said the people of Pakistan stood in solidarity with their Afghan brethren in this difficult time. “We have no doubt that the brotherly Afghan people will overcome the effects of this natural calamity with their characteristic resilience,” it said.

The FO said Pakistani authorities and institutions were working to extend required assistance to Afghanistan in coordination with their relevant institutions.

International assistance

After an Afghan foreign ministry spokesman said the Taliban would welcome international help, US President Joe Biden has directed Usaid and other federal government entities to assess how they can respond.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations was fully mobilised, assessing needs and providing initial support.

But according to Ramiz Alakbarov, the deputy UN envoy in Afghanistan, the United Nations does not have search and rescue capabilities in Afghanistan and Turkey is “best positioned” to provide such support.

At the UN, Pakistan urged the international community not to link assistance for the disaster-hit nation with political concerns.

“The humanitarian assistance should not become a victim of geopolitics. UN’s humanitarian principles, including the principles of neutrality and impartiality must be upheld,” said Ambassador Munir Akram at a Tuesday night meeting on humanitarian assistance in New York.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022

 

[MenInG]

The Taliban in Afghanistan have appealed for international support, as the country deals with the aftermath of a devastating 6.1 magnitude earthquake.

More than 1,000 people have been killed and at least 1,500 injured. Unknown numbers are buried in the rubble of ruined, often mud-built homes.

South eastern Paktika province has been worst-hit and the UN is scrambling to provide emergency shelter and food aid.

Rescue efforts are being hampered by heavy rain and lack of resources.

Survivors and rescuers have told the BBC of villages completely destroyed near the epicentre of the quake, of ruined roads and mobile phone towers - and of their fears that the death toll will rise further.

The deadliest earthquake to strike the country in two decades is a major challenge for the Taliban, the Islamist movement which regained power last year after the Western-backed government collapsed.

The earthquake struck about 44km (27 miles) from the city of Khost and tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan and India.

Afghanistan is in the midst of a humanitarian and economic crisis, and Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a senior Taliban official, said the government was "financially unable to assist the people to the extent that is needed".

Aid agencies, neighbouring countries and world powers were helping, he said, but added: "The assistance needs to be scaled up to a very large extent because this is a devastating earthquake which hasn't been experienced in decades."

The head of the United Nations, António Guterres said the agency had "fully mobilized" over the disaster. Health teams, medical supplies, food, and emergency shelters were en route to the quake zone, UN officials said.

BBC

 

[sweep_shot]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun.

 

[daytrader]

Taliban’s isolation hampers Afghan quake response

KABUL: A devastating earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, which killed at least 1,000 people and flattened homes in remote villages close to the Pakistani border, poses the biggest challenge yet for the Taliban since they seized power nearly a year ago.

The hardline group is governing an impoverished country beset by severe drought, widespread hunger and economic crisis and where the effects of decades of conflict are still keenly felt.

Now the earthquake risks exposing the limitations of an administration largely isolated from the outside world and desperately short of cash and resources.

While humanitarian assistance continues to flow, aid needed for longer-term development in Afghanistan was halted when the Taliban stormed Kabul last August. Further angering the Taliban, billions of dollars in Afghan reserves also remain frozen overseas as the West pushes for concessions on human rights, particularly for girls and women.

Shehbaz expresses solidarity with Akhund

“The sanctions imposed after the Taliban takeover ... and the economic collapse will make it incredibly difficult to respond with necessary medical and food aid, and to support reconstruction,” said Ashley Jackson, co-director of the Centre on Armed Groups and an expert on the relationship between the Taliban and civilians.

So far, a handful of ageing helicopters have been flying to and from some of the worst-affected areas, carrying the injured out and ferrying in supplies of food and medicine.

“The question is, will this disaster make the international community question the harmful costs that its policies are having on ordinary Afghans?” said Jackson.

Adnan Junaid, International Rescue Committee’s vice president for Asia, added: “The international community must ... establish a roadmap that sets out strategies to resume development assistance, provide technical support to the central bank, and ultimately release Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves.”

The Taliban have appealed to the international community and several countries have promised humanitarian aid, some of which is already arriving. International aid agencies are also providing support on the ground.

Technical assistance, however, including specialist search and rescue teams that could fly in quickly from overseas, had yet to be deployed as of Thursday.

According to two UN officials and a Pakistani source speaking on Wednesday, teams from Turkey and Pakistan were on standby.

Syed Irfan Raza adds from Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday telephoned acting Prime Minister of the interim government of Afghanistan, Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, and conveyed Pakistan’s solidarity with the Afghan people in the wake of the devastating earthquake.

According to the Prime Minister Office, Mr Sharif offered prayers for the departed souls and wished speedy recovery to the injured.

He also shared with Mullah Akhund details of the relief efforts mounted by Pakistan to provide emergency assistance to Afghanistan, including the dispatch of emergency medicine, tents, tarpaulins, and blankets.

He said the border crossing points of Ghulam Khan and Angoor Adda had been opened for the transportation of seriously injured Afghans to Pakistani hospitals for treatment.

The PM also highlighted the measures taken by Pakistan to facilitate trade and the movement of people through effective border management. He said Pakistan was committed to strengthening bilateral ties to promote the cause of peace, progress and prosperity.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1696426/talibans-isolation-hampers-afghan-quake-response

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m supporting <a href="https://twitter.com/rashidkhan_19?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@rashidkhan_19</a>’s campaign to provide relief to earthquake victims in Afghanistan. <br><br>Donate now at <a href="https://t.co/VMNVyLhheh">https://t.co/VMNVyLhheh</a><br><br>I nominate: <a href="https://twitter.com/wasimakramlive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wasimakramlive</a> , <a href="https://twitter.com/waqyounis99?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@waqyounis99</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/shoaib100mph?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@shoaib100mph</a> <br><br>Please donate and share. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BackEvenStronger?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BackEvenStronger</a> <a href="https://t.co/V2vtdEsejJ">pic.twitter.com/V2vtdEsejJ</a></p>— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/SAfridiOfficial/status/1540215452701523968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Justcrazy]

Earthquakes , Floods etc has become too common , we are starting point of end of days.

 

[MenInG]

Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani on Friday thanked Pakistan, UAE, India and other friendly countries and aid organisations for helping the people of Afghanistan hit by the recent deadly earthquake.

In an official statement, the interim government’s interior minister said earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters are a test from the Almighty.

“We too are enduring this ordeal like the other hardships in the past. We are patient and stand with our people. We will always remember those who gave us their helping hand in the difficult time.”

Haqqani also thanked the humanitarian organisations and philanthropists “from the bottom of our heart who have helped the earthquake victims in Paktika and Khost provinces and sent messages of condolences”.

“We pray for such a safe and secure world in which all the people live in relief and dignity,” the statement quoted him as saying.

Afghanistan lacks the medical supplies to treat those injured in an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people this week, a senior official said, as an aftershock on Friday killed five more.

Authorities earlier ended a search in remote southeastern mountains for survivors of the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck early on Wednesday near the Pakistani border, about 160km southeast of Kabul, the capital.

Also read: Afghanistan seeks emergency medical supplies for earthquake survivors

About 2,000 people were injured and 10,000 homes partially or entirely destroyed in Wednesday's earthquake, Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, a spokesperson for Afghanistan's disaster ministry, told Reuters.

The disaster is a major test for the country’s rulers, who have been largely isolated, shunned by many because of concerns over human rights and cut off from much direct international assistance because of sanctions.

On Thursday, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates all said they planned to send aid. Supplies from Pakistan have already crossed the border.

India, which has strained ties with the Taliban, said it had sent 27 tonnes of supplies on two flights to be handed to international aid agencies.

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has rushed tonnes of supplies and expert staff to support the relief effort.

Express Tribune