Jubilee Post News & Views
Special Desk
European seismological agency, European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, stated tremors were felt over 500 kilometres by 119 million people across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
A powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people, reports said. The Taliban government has allocated 1 billion afghanis (Rs 87.53 crore) to help those affected by the quake.
The quake was Afghanistan’s deadliest in two decades, and officials said the toll could rise. An estimated 1,500 others were reported injured. 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 Ministry of State for Natural Disaster Management also announced a compensation of 100,000 Afs to the kin of the deceased.
“Based on the order of the Prime Minister, it was decided to pay the family of each dead person 100,000 Afs and family of each wounded person 50,000 Afs,” deputy Minister of State Ministry for Natural Disaster Management, Mawlawi Sharafuddin Muslim said.
Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban Supreme leader, extended condolences to those affected. United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the magnitude of the earthquake was 5.9, while epicentre of the tremor was about 46km (27 miles) from the city of Khost, near the Pakistani border.
