By Chris Summers
A powerful aftershock rattled southeastern Afghanistan on Sept. 2, triggering fears of fresh casualties after an earthquake killed 1,400 people and injured thousands more.
The aftershock of 5.2 magnitude was close to the epicenter of the Aug. 31 quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It occurred at a depth of six miles, the same level as Sunday’s quake.
The death toll from Sunday’s earthquake in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces was originally put at 800. The Taliban government in Kabul has since raised the figure to 1,411 deaths, 3,124 injuries, and more than 5,400 destroyed homes.
Save the Children said one of its teams, carrying medical equipment, walked for 12 miles to reach villages cut off by rockfalls and landslides.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, the head of disaster management in Kunar province, said dozens of Afghan commandos were airdropped into the quake-hit areas on Sept. 3 to help carry injured people to safer ground.
“A camp has been set up where service and relief committees are coordinating supplies and emergency aid,” Ehsan said.
Two centers were overseeing the rescue of survivors, the treatment of the injured, and the burial of the dead, he added.
‘Race Against Time’
The U.N.’s resident coordinator for Afghanistan, Indrika Ratwatte, said the rescuers were facing a “race against time” to reach trapped or injured villagers.
Ratwatte, speaking to journalists in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 2, said the death toll was expected to rise.
“We cannot afford to forget the people of Afghanistan who are facing multiple crises, multiple shocks, and the resilience of the communities has been saturated,” he said. “These are life and death decisions while we race against time to reach people.”
Afghanistan is a mountainous country, and the eastern and northeastern parts are prone to earthquakes.
Geologists say that as the Indian tectonic plate moves northward, it thrusts against the Eurasian plate, triggering quakes.
USGS says the two plates are converging at a relative rate of 40 to 50 millimeters a year.
“Northward underthrusting of India beneath Eurasia generates numerous earthquakes and consequently makes this area one of the most seismically hazardous regions on Earth,” USGS says on its website.
The Taliban regained power after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, 20 years after it was ousted by a U.S.-led force in the wake of 9/11.
Afghanistan has since seen a big cut in international aid. The country is suffering from a weak economy and an influx of 2.2 million people who have been returned from Pakistan and Iran.
The Taliban government, which is only recognized by Russia, has appealed for assistance from the international community.
UN Response
U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the organization had released $5 million from its emergency fund for Afghanistan, which would be matched by $5 million from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, which is also funded by the U.N.
The UK has offered 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) to be split equally between the U.N. Population Fund and the International Red Cross.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the UK remains committed to the people of Afghanistan.
“This emergency funding will help our partners to deliver critical healthcare and emergency supplies to the most hard-hit,” Lammy said. “The UK remains grateful to the aid workers on the ground, who help us to provide support to Afghanistan’s most vulnerable people.”
The European Union is sending 130 metric tons of emergency supplies and providing 1 million euros ($1.16 million).
China, India, and the United Arab Emirates have also pledged disaster relief support.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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