World
Earthquake Strikes Afghanistan, As Many As 920 People Have Already Lost Their Lives
Afganistan
A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan overnight.
As many as 920 people have already lost their lives, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It is feared that more than 600 people are injured.
According to the New York Times, the quake struck early Wednesday about 28 miles southwest of the city of Khost. Khost is a provincial capital in the country's south east.
According to the United States Geological Survey said, it had a depth of around six miles.
The deputy minister of disaster management, Sharafuddin Muslim, stated at a news conference in Kabul that 920 people have died.
According to people in Paktika province, the earthquake was felt across several provinces.
Rafiullah Rahel said that 381 people were dead and 205 injured in that province. Rahel is the head of the health department in Paktika Province.
According to the report by Times, "Sarhadi Khosti, 26, who lives in the Sperah district, said he had been woken up by the earthquake after 1 a.m., and that a number of houses — especially those made of soil or wood — had been completely destroyed. He added that helicopters had transported some of the wounded to hospitals in Kabul and neighboring provinces."
He said that for now they are "busy pulling the dead or injured from under the rubble."
The quake struck around 300 miles north-northeast of the site of a deadly 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in 2008, according to the report.
The earthquake was felt in Kabul and across the Northern part of neighbouring Pakistan.
Several of Afghanistan's densely populated towns and cities sit on or near geological fault lines.
Mawlawi Sharafudin Muslim, the country’s deputy minister for natural disaster management has said that the number of casualties could rise. He added that tents, blankets, cash and food had been dispatched to the area.
The office of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister of the Taliban regime that took over last year, has asked foreign aid agencies for help.
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