Seven earthquakes and a series of devastating aftershocks, which shook the Herat province in western Afghanistan on October 7, left 2,053 dead and 9,240 injured. It is one of the worst catastrophes of this type, which the country has suffered since 1998; and the deadliest since the Taliban regained power in August 2021.
First modification:
2 min
After seven earthquakes, with their aftershocks, according to Janan Sayeeq, spokesperson for the ministry responsible for disaster management in Afghanistan, the figures are: 2,053 dead and 9,240 injured.
The first of all, the largest magnitude, of 6.3, occurred at 12:11 (+5:30 GMT) at a depth of 14 kilometers and 35 kilometers from the city of Zindah Jan, located in the province of Herat, reported the Geological Survey. of the United States (USGS).
Four consecutive aftershocks of 5.5 followed; 4.7; 6.3; and 5.9 respectively in a period of one hour.
The situation is now complicated for the Taliban Government, without access to the financial system and international reserves, so on Sunday, October 8, it requested the help of businessmen, entrepreneurs and all “wealthy” citizens of Afghanistan to address the humanitarian crisis following the earthquakes that devastated a dozen villages in the west of the country.
Images of the tragedy show villages in ruins, inhabitants of the devastated areas lifting by hand through the rubble, without any machinery, but hoping to find the bodies of their families.
With hospitals overwhelmed and morgues without capacity, bodies are transported in trucks. The region’s health system is unable to cope and depends largely on humanitarian organizations.
More than 200 bodies have been taken to hospitals in the region, a health official in Herat said, adding that most of the victims were women and children. “The bodies have been deposited in various places: military bases, hospitals,” he said.
In recent years there have been several earthquakes that have left unfortunate deaths in this country.
In February 1998, two earthquakes were recorded, killing at least 4,000 people. In May of that same year, another earthquake left 5,000 dead. In March 2002, two earthquakes occurred, one left 70 dead and another left 3,000 dead. In 2012 two earthquakes left 300 dead and in 2015 there was one that left 400 dead. Finally, in 2022, an earthquake left 1,030 people dead, according to Agencia EFE’s count.
With EFE and Reuters
#Earthquakes #Afghanistan #dead #among #deadliest #country