Kabul (EFE).- Search and rescue operations continued in Afghanistan on Tuesday, a day after a magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck the north of the country, leaving at least 20 people dead and some 1,000 injured.
Preliminary reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan reported that at least 20 people have died — nine in Balkh province and 11 in Samangan — and 945 others have been injured – 616 in Balkh and 329 in Samangan.
OCHA underlined that the number of victims could increase. Over 90 houses have been destroyed, including more than 50 houses in the Khulm district in Samangan province.
Provincial Disaster Management Committees (PDMC) convened urgent meetings in Balkh and Samangan provinces, while joint inter-agency assessment teams were deployed in the most affected districts.
The earthquake struck at 1am with its epicenter 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) from the city of Khulm in Balkh province, at a depth of 28 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey.
The quake was strongly felt in Kabul and several northern and northeastern provinces, including Balkh, Samangan, Kunduz, Takhar, and Bamiyan.
Meanwhile, governments from different parts of the world have expressed condolences and begun to send help cautiously.
India has been the first to send aid, with 15 tons of food and announced new shipments of medicines, while Iran and the UK have promised shipment of supplies on the ground.
This tremor came just weeks after the powerful earthquakes that struck the east of the country in September and left more than 2,200 dead and 3,600 wounded, according to the latest official toll from the country.
Afghanistan is located on a collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
The fragility of infrastructure and adobe construction in rural areas increases the lethality of earthquakes.
Afghanistan has been facing a chronic humanitarian crisis and has a fragile health system, aggravated by international isolation under the Taliban regime, which returned to power after the pullout of international troops in August 2021.
Lack of resources and dependence on foreign aid complicate disaster response in a country, among the more earthquake-prone areas on the planet given that it is located where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates merge. EFE
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