Updated: M6.1 Hits Afghanistan - At least 1000 Dead, Buried Under Homes And Buildings - Death Toll To Rise

At least 1000 dead buried under homes and buildings after deadly M6.1 earthquake hits Afghanistan (videos and pictures)

Strange Sounds

An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 killed at least 1000 people in Afghanistan on Wednesday (June 22), the country’s minister in charge of disasters said.

More than 600 people were injured and the toll is likely to rise as information trickles in from remote mountain villages

#Afghanistan earthquake At least 255 dead after 6.1 magnitude quake strikes. Latest video An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 in Afghanistan has killed at least 255 people in the country's east,. #Afghanistan #earthquake #Taliban

The quake struck about 44km from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border, at a depth of 51km, the United States Geological Survey said.

“Strong and long jolts,” a resident of the Afghan capital, Kabul, posted on a the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

Photographs on Afghan media showed houses reduced to rubble and bodies covered in blankets on the ground.

The EMSC put the magnitude at 6.1 though the USGC said it was 5.9.

Most of the confirmed deaths were in the eastern Afghan province of Paktika, where 255 people had been killed and more than 200 injured, said interior ministry official Salahuddin Ayubi.

In Khost province, 25 people had been killed and 90 taken to hospital, he said.

“The death toll is likely to rise as some of the villages are in remote areas in the mountains and it will take some time to collect details,” he said.

Shaking was felt by about 119 million people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the EMSC said on Twitter.

“It was strong,” said a resident of the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in Pakistan.

Shallow M5.9 earthquake hits Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, killing at least 920 people

A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M5.9 hit the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region at 20:54 UTC on June 21, 2022 (01:24 LT, June 22). The agency is reporting a depth of 50 km (31 miles). EMSC is reporting M5.9 at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

• As of early morning, June 22, the confirmed death toll was 280. By 10:20 UTC, the death toll skyrocketed to 930 and was still expected to rise.
• This is now the deadliest earthquake to hit Afghanistan since 2002.
• Numerous homes have been destroyed. 
• SAR operations are in progress.
• 
  

The epicenter was located about 44.6 km (27.7 miles) SW of Khōst (population 96 123) and 61.2 km (38 miles) SSE of Gardez (population 103 601).

There are about 3.4 million people living within 100 km (62 miles).

7 000 people are estimated to have felt very strong shaking, 119 000 strong, 884 000 moderate and 17 629 000 light.

The USGS issued a Yellow alert for shaking-related fatalities. Some casualties are possible and the impact should be relatively localized. Past events with this alert level have required a local or regional level response.

Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are extremely vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are informal (metal, timber, GI etc.) and adobe block construction.