Fresh quake hits Afghanistan as toll passes 1,400

Fresh quake hits Afghanistan as toll passes 1,400

A fresh 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit the east of Afghanistan on Tuesday, jolting a region still struggling with the aftermath of a powerful quake at the weekend that killed 1,400 people.

The epicentre of the tremor was close to where a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit late Sunday night, devastating remote areas in mountainous provinces near the border with Pakistan.

The “quake was felt in the same areas which were affected in Kunar (province) in the first earthquake,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, the disaster management spokesman in the hard-hit province, said.

The quake was reported by the US Geological Survey late Tuesday.

READ ALSO:

• Tinubu reinstates sacked NTA DG, ED, nullifies fresh appointments
• FG considers privatisation of Ajaokuta Steel, TBS, refineries, airports, other enterprises
• Benue govt bans graduation parties in basic schools

The number of victims from Sunday’s earthquake has mounted steadily, with 1,411 people dead and 3,124 injured in Kunar alone, chief Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday, making it one of the deadliest to hit the country in decades.

Another dozen people were killed and hundreds were injured in neighbouring Nangarhar province.

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, with dwindling aid since the Taliban seized power in 2021, undermining its ability to respond to disasters.

The devastation could affect “hundreds of thousands”, said United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan Indrika Ratwatte.

Rescuers searched through the night and all day for survivors in the rubble of homes flattened in Kunar, where more than 5,400 houses were destroyed, government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on X.

Many of the worst-affected areas were still unreachable by road, but emergency facilities were being set up and multiple countries had announced they would provide aid, Fitrat said.

Fresh quake hits Afghanistan as toll passes 1,400