Afghans left homes and buildings after earthquake AFP October 7, 2023
At least 180 people died and dozens were injured in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck Western Australia. Afghanistan According to a new report from authorities, the number could increase this Saturday (7) as landslides occur and there are victims among the rubble.
“These figures represent the number of victims brought to the central hospital so far, but are not a final tally,” Herat province’s public health director Mohamad Taleb Shahid told AFP.
“According to our information, people are buried under the rubble,” he added.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the earthquake was 40 km northwest of the region’s largest city, Herat. Then there were seven aftershocks with magnitudes between 4.6 and 6.3.
In Herat, residents and traders fled buildings around 11 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. Brasília) when the quakes began.
“We were in our offices when the building suddenly started shaking and the wall panels fell down. The walls developed cracks and part of the building collapsed,” Bashir Ahmad, a 45yearold man, told AFP.
“I can’t contact my family, contacts and networks don’t work. I am worried and scared, it was scary,” he added.
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The USGS said in a preliminary report that there could be hundreds of deaths.
“It is likely that there will be a significant number of casualties and the disaster may be widespread,” the institute said.
Mullah Jan Sayeq, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, told AFP that “landslides occurred in rural and mountainous areas.”
Herat, located 120 km east of the border with Iran, is the capital of the province of the same name, which is home to around 1.9 million people, according to 2019 data from the World Bank.
Afghanistan: Remember the Taliban group regaining power
Exactly two years ago, the Taliban extremist group took power in Afghanistan. During this period, the country’s population faced changes in routine and habits imposed by the new government. The accelerated withdrawal of foreign forces from the country was considered a defeat for the West, especially for the United States, which began the socalled “war on terror” and an invasion process after the fall of the Twin Towers in 2001. Remember some of the photos that defined Afghanistan in 2021
The president of Afghanistan in 2021 is Ashraf Ghani, who was ousted from power by the Taliban. To protect himself, he fled and his hiding place was kept secret for security reasons. The escape was the starting point for the Taliban’s occupation of the government palace and the beginning of the process of regaining power after 20 years of the presence of foreign forces.
The Afghan population tried to flee the country via Kabul airport in the capital. Thousands of people tried to get a seat on charter planes or military planes to escape the new Taliban government. Women accompanied by their children had priority when boarding. Many families were separated in the days when foreign troops left Afghan territory
Until the deadline for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan expired, planes took off around the clock with diplomats, embassy employees, military personnel, civilians and also Afghan service personnel who were at risk of being captured by the Taliban
The area surrounding the airport was full of people. The metropolitan area became a weak point for a possible Taliban attack, leading to military personnel from several countries securing the site.
A large explosion occurred near the airport, killing dozens of people, including American military personnel and civilians. It was suspected that the Taliban’s rival group, the IsisK group, took advantage of the moment to carry out suicide attacks in the crowd. People’s desperation to leave Afghanistan led many of them to forcibly enter the airport to try to board planes. anyway. Some tried to hold on to the hull in hopes of escaping the Taliban
Some Afghans survived the takeoff from outside, but were unable to hold on and fell from the plane
The withdrawal process of American troops was completed on August 30. Gen. Chris Donahue was the last to leave Afghanistan, and a photo shows the moment he stepped onto the C17 plane with his right foot
The next day, Taliban men entered the airport and found the building destroyed. Helicopters, cars and medical equipment not carried on military aircraft were damaged or rendered unusable. Since the Taliban’s return to power, the group has begun applying strict rules based on the Al Quran, Islam’s holy book. As a result, women were excluded from the education system, the labor market and even public spaces.