AFGHANISTAN ROCKED BY EARTHQUAKES

Written by Michael Thervil

AFGHANISTAN ROCKED BY EARTHQUAKES |  PHOTO BY WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP

[earthquakes Afghanistan] A devastating series of earthquakes that occurred in Afghanistan with one that measured 6.0 on the Richter Scale left an estimated 3,124 people severely injured. The earthquakes stretched about 17 miles east of Jalalabad and aftershocks were felt several miles after that. The vast majority of Afghans that were affected by the series of earthquakes were either killed or severely wounded resided in the Kunar providence; Afghans in other areas such as Nangarhar, Chawkay, Chapa Dara, Dara-e-Pech, Watapur, and Nurgal were also severely impacted. Earthquakes are common within Afghanistan as the Eurasian and Indian Tectonic Plates tend to intersect and shift underneath the Hindu Kush Mountains.

The bulk of the earthquake started on Sunday with smaller earthquakes occurring well into yesterday. The earthquakes have destroyed just over 8,000 homes in the Nangarhar province alone and has impacted roughly 12,000 Afghans and while almost 1,500 lives have been lost and the lives of others severely altered, the already weakened infrastructure in these areas have also succumbed to the series of earthquakes over the last two days. For the people within the affected areas, the good news is that hospitals and emergency rooms are still operational despite being hit hard.

Currently the Taliban are still conducting rescue missions but have been slowed down by the rubble, rubble which has prompted the Taliban to execute air operation in locations where they could, but it has been reported by the Taliban that air rescue operations are still limited because of the inability of safe landing space amongst the rubble. It’s been predicted that there could be hundreds more Afghans trapped beneath the rubble. How many and how long will it take Afghanistan to recover both the bodies and fix the destroyed infrastructure is up to time itself. But if time as taught the world anything about Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan have survived the test of time.