2023-10-08 13:08:17
It was followed by eight strong aftershocks. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook western Afghanistan on Saturday. The tremors caused enormous damage but, above all, according to a final assessment which is still provisional, more than 2,000 people are believed to have died. In a country already in the grip of a severe crisis since the return to power of the Taliban in 2021, this earthquake is a new humanitarian catastrophe. Especially since international aid has been withdrawn. 20 Minutes takes stock of this earthquake while, on the side of the Taliban government, those responsible for managing natural disasters could not immediately be reached.
What happened in Afghanistan on Saturday?
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook western Afghanistan on Saturday morning, according to the US Institute of Geophysics (USGS). Its epicenter was located 30 kilometers northwest of the town of Herat. The earthquake was quickly followed by four aftershocks of magnitudes 5.5, 4.7, 6.3 and 5.9 respectively. “It is likely that there will be a significant number of casualties and that the disaster will be potentially widespread. Previous events with the same alert level have required a response at the regional or national level,” the institute immediately indicated.
On the side of the Taliban government, those responsible for managing natural disasters could not immediately be reached.
What is the human toll?
More than 2,000 people died in this violent incident, according to a new official report released on Sunday. “2,053 martyrs died in 13 villages. 1,240 people were injured. 1,320 houses were completely destroyed,” Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on X (formerly Twitter), citing the disaster management agency. “Unfortunately, the number of casualties is very high,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government. We are waiting to see the final figures. »
On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that “the number of casualties is expected to increase as search and rescue operations continue.” “According to our information, people are still buried under the rubble”, declared for his part the director of public health of the province of Herat, Mohammad Taleb Shahid, recalling that there is no “assessment” yet. definitive”.
What is the material balance?
In the village of Sarboland in the Zinda Jan district, dozens of houses were destroyed, an AFP journalist noted at nightfall on Saturday. Men were clearing rubble while women and children waited outside, among the debris. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 600 houses were destroyed or partially damaged in at least twelve villages in Herat province. In total, 4,200 people were affected in one way or another by the earthquake, according to the same source.
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In Herat, considered the cultural capital of Afghanistan, many residents and traders fled buildings at the first tremor.
What do the survivors say?
“From the first shock, all the houses collapsed,” Bashir Ahmad, 42, said this Sunday. Those inside the houses were buried. There are families we have no news about. » Nek Mohammad was at work when the first tremor hit Afghanistan around 11 a.m. local time. “We came home and found there was nothing left. Everything had become sand,” he told AFP on Saturday, adding that around 30 bodies were found. “At the moment we have nothing. No blankets or anything else. We are abandoned with our martyrs,” added this 32-year-old man.
Is this earthquake so exceptional?
Afghanistan frequently experiences earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, close to where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet. In June 2022, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake, the deadliest to date in Afghanistan in nearly twenty-five years, left more than a thousand dead and tens of thousands homeless, in the poor province of Paktika (south-east). And last March, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake killed 13 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan, near the town of Jurm, in the northeast of the country.
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