© Reuters. Afghan men stand on the rubble of an earthquake-damaged house in Gayan, Afghanistan, June 23, 2022. Photo taken June 23, 2022. REUTERS / Ali Khara
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By Mohammad Yunus Yawar
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan does not have enough medical supplies to treat those injured by an earthquake that killed 1,000 people this week, a senior official said, as Friday’s aftershocks killed 5 more people.
Authorities had earlier concluded a search for survivors of the 6.1-magnitude quake that struck early Wednesday morning, about 160 kilometers east of the capital, Kabul, near the Pakistani border. south, about 100 km to the southeast.
The US Geological Survey said Friday’s quake, which was almost exactly in the same place, had a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter scale.
About 2,000 people were injured and 10,000 homes were partially or completely destroyed in Wednesday’s quake, Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, a spokesman for the disaster ministry, told Reuters.
“The health ministry doesn’t have enough medicine, we need medical aid and other necessities because it’s a big disaster,” he said.
The epicenter of Wednesday’s quake was in an arid mountainous region dotted with small settlements often the scene of clashes in Afghanistan’s decades of war.
A health ministry official said the aftershock had killed five people, but had no immediate information on the extent of the damage and new injuries.
Poor communications and only very basic roads have hampered relief efforts in a country grappling with a worsening humanitarian crisis after the Taliban took power in August. when the US-led international forces withdrew.
The disaster is a major test for Muslim hardliners, who have been largely isolated; many are shunned because of human rights concerns and cut off from much direct international support because of sanctions.
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday said they plan to send aid. Supplies from Pakistan have crossed the border.
India, which has a strained relationship with the Taliban, said it had sent 27 tonnes of supplies on two flights to be handed over to international aid agencies.
Haqqani, speaking before the aftershock, said the search for survivors had been halted, about 48 hours after the disaster.
“The search has ended,” he said.
He did not explain why. People were pulled alive from the rubble of other earthquakes after a considerable time.
Much of South Asia is seismically active because a tectonic plate known as the Indian plate is pushing northward into the Eurasian plate.
In 2015, an earthquake struck remote northeastern Afghanistan, killing hundreds in Afghanistan and neighboring northern Pakistan.
