At least 800 people have died, with over 1,500 injured, in the powerful earthquake that struck Afghanistan late yesterday evening. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told AFP that "at least 610 people died and 1,300 were injured in Kunar province, with numerous homes destroyed. In Nangarhar province, 12 people died and another 255 were injured."
The epicenter of the earthquake, just eight kilometers deep, was located 27 kilometers from Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6. Most of the damaged homes are in the Mazar Valley, in Norgal district, Kunar province, which borders Pakistan. The valley is located in a mountainous area.
Taliban government officials have urged humanitarian organizations to assist with relief efforts in remote mountainous areas affected by the earthquake in Afghanistan. The police chief of Kunar province told the BBC that roads to the area are blocked due to landslides caused by flooding and the earthquake's aftershocks .
Taliban officials say they have limited resources and are asking international organizations for help in providing helicopters to reach the affected areas, as they cannot be reached by land. Several government sources have reported that dozens of homes are under rubble, and hundreds more are feared dead and injured .
(Unioneonline)