Over 250 Killed As Earthquake Rocks Afghanistan

A powerful earthquake struck a remote border region of Afghanistan overnight killing at least 255 people and injuring hundreds more, in the early hours of Wednesday.

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake has killed at least 255 people in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika Province, the state-run news agency and officials reported on June 22.

“According to the information, the number of earthquake victims so far in the provinces of Paktika and Khost has reached 255 dead and 500 injured,” tweeted, government spokesman, Mohammad Naeem.

Earlier, another spokesman told newsmen that many houses were damaged and people were still trapped inside.

Yaqub Manzor, a tribal leader from Paktika province, said survivors were mobilizing to help those affected.

“The local markets are closed and all the people have rushed to the affected areas,” he told reporters by telephone.

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

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

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, an immediate response is often limited.

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.

The latest earthquake comes at a time when Afghanistan is battling a severe humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover of the country.

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