What we all know and what we do not

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/73a6/live/6dc044c0-8717-11f0-84c8-99de564f0440.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Ariana News Afghanistan A group of children stand in front of the rubble of a building" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Ariana Information Afghanistan Many houses within the affected areas are constructed with mud bricks and wooden, making them extremely susceptible to break down

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake has struck Afghanistan's mountainous jap area, with authorities saying lots of of individuals have been killed.

The quake hit at 23:47 native time on Sunday (19:17 GMT) with its epicentre 27km (17 miles) away from Jalalabad, the nation's fifth-largest metropolis, in jap Nangarhar province.

It was shallow - solely 8km deep - and was felt 140km away within the capital, Kabul, in addition to in neighbouring Pakistan. Tons of of persons are thought to have died.

The preliminary quake was adopted by plenty of massive aftershocks, that are thought to have prompted additional deaths.

Particulars are nonetheless rising and it might be a while earlier than the extent of the injury and variety of deaths is thought.

What we all know up to now

Preliminary experiences point out important casualties and widespread injury throughout elements of the far western Nangarhar and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan.

These mountainous areas are extraordinarily difficult to succeed in even at the most effective of instances, which is hampering rescue and aid operations.

Greater than 800 persons are feared lifeless, the Taliban's inside ministry has stated, however warns that there's nonetheless no clear demise toll. There are experiences that lots of extra have been injured.

The BBC has been instructed that the street resulting in the epicentre has been blocked due to a landslide, so the Taliban authorities is utilizing helicopters to get folks out.

A number of sources from the federal government have stated that dozens of homes are buried underneath the rubble. Help from worldwide organisations has been requested and a number of other international locations have supplied help.

Entry by street to the worst-hit areas stays blocked, however lots of of houses are prone to have been destroyed, in keeping with Salam Al Janabi from the UN youngsters's charity Unicef.

The help organisation World Imaginative and prescient says that complete villages in Chawki and Nurgal areas - each in Kunar province - have been fully or partially destroyed, with houses made from mud and timber collapsing and trapping residents underneath rubble.

Many individuals have been trapped underneath the rubble for hours and are reported to have died as they awaited rescuers.

An official in Nurgal instructed the information company AFP that lots of these dwelling within the quake-hit villages had returned to the nation from Iran and Pakistan lately. Each nations have stepped up efforts to deport greater than 1,000,000 Afghans - lots of whom had initially fled the nation to flee violence.

The earthquake got here within the wake of flash flooding over the weekend which left at the very least 5 lifeless, in keeping with native media. The flood, which prompted landslides and broken infrastructure, additionally quickly disrupted site visitors between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ad2e/live/5e7eaac0-8748-11f0-b391-6936825093bd.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A map showing the location of an earthquake in Afghanistan's eastern Nangharhar province. The epicenter is marked with concentric red circles near Kunar, close to Jalalabad and Kabul. A scale indicating 100 km and 100 miles is shown at the bottom left. The source of the map is USGS." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Why information is taking time to emerge

As we have now reported, the character of the terrain means it's troublesome to entry and there are restricted communications - which means it is going to take longer to get updates on the scenario. There's additionally prone to be injury to infrastructure, making it even tougher to succeed in affected areas.

Throughout earlier main earthquakes, the demise toll jumped up steeply as soon as entry to the affected areas was established.

Nevertheless, there are different elements that hamper each our means to get correct details about the scenario and in getting help into the affected areas.

Since August 2021 the nation has been underneath the management of the Taliban, whose authorities many of the world doesn't recognise.

The return of the hardline Islamist group to energy sparked an exodus of worldwide journalists, with organisations just like the BBC pulling lots of their employees from the nation.

A number of help companies and NGOs additionally suspended their work in Afghanistan because of this - which means there are fewer methods to confirm what is occurring there.

Nevertheless, there aren't any restrictions on permitting in worldwide help.

Can Afghanistan cope?

Afghanistan was pushed into financial collapse when the Taliban took over and greater than 23 million Afghans are actually in want of humanitarian help, in keeping with the Worldwide Rescue Committee.

Most international donations to Afghanistan have been suspended and worldwide sanctions, which date again to when the Taliban have been first in energy within the Nineteen Nineties, are nonetheless in place - though exemptions have been made for humanitarian aid.

Previous to the Taliban takeover, about 80% of Afghanistan's price range got here from international donors. This funded almost all public healthcare, which has since collapsed.

Jalalabad's predominant hospital - the most important medical facility near the epicentre - has been overwhelmed. It's proper on the centre of the crossing level for the tens of 1000's of Afghans being deported from neighbouring Pakistan.

Afghanistan's monetary belongings overseas (primarily held within the US) have additionally been frozen, whereas the abrupt freeze on US Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID) earlier this yr has considerably affected help supply.

It's prone to take years to rebuild the areas which were worst hit. Many villages in western Herat province are nonetheless recovering from a collection of highly effective earthquakes that struck almost two years in the past.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a5f9/live/b6570970-8731-11f0-9ea1-07d888221746.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters A woman and two girls, who are crying, sit on a mat" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Reuters Help companies warn that the well being and security of girls and ladies might be extra in peril as a result of restrictions positioned on them by the Taliban authorities

Why are girls and ladies significantly in danger?

There are issues that the well being and security of girls and ladies might be at higher threat as a result of restrictions positioned on them by the Taliban authorities.

These "proceed to restrict their entry to life-saving companies, leaving them [women and girls] among the many most susceptible within the aftermath of the quake", stated Graham Davison, head of the Afghanistan department of the worldwide help group Care.

Kunar is a really conservative space, so for cultural causes, girls would possibly find yourself being handled later. It's feared some girls might have chosen to remain, or look forward to daylight to be taken to hospital by their households.

A strong earthquake within the Paktika province of 2022 noticed the variety of injured girls in hospitals rise two days after the earthquake.

It is usually necessary to notice that there aren't any feminine rescuers on the bottom.

Why are earthquakes significantly damaging in Afghanistan?

Afghanistan could be very liable to earthquakes as a result of it's situated on prime of plenty of fault strains the place the Indian and Eurasian plates meet.

Earthquakes in Herat and Paktika provinces in 2022 and 2023, respectively, killed greater than 2,000 folks in complete.

Earthquakes occur when there's sudden motion alongside the tectonic plates that make up the Earth's floor. Fractures known as fault strains happen the place the plates collide.

Shallow quakes are frequent in Afghanistan and are extra harmful, as seismic waves have much less of a distance to journey to the Earth's floor and subsequently retain a lot of their energy.

Buildings within the nation additionally are usually made from timber, mud brick or weak concrete, which aren't quake-resistant.

Plenty of injury additionally comes from landslides attributable to earthquakes, which may flatten homes in mountain villages and block rivers, inflicting flooding.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a1a4/live/5beca450-873f-11f0-9cf6-cbf3e73ce2b9.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Map showing major fault lines crossing Afghanistan. The top inset illustrates the collision between the Indian Plate, moving northwards, and the Eurasian Plate, with Afghanistan lying at the boundary. The bottom map highlights red fault lines running across Afghanistan, passing near Herat in the west, Kabul in the east, and extending towards Pakistan. Nearby countries Iran, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan are marked, along with Afghan cities Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, and Mazar-i-Sharif. A small globe inset shows Afghanistan’s global location." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> [ad_2] Source link