KABUL: A third earthquake, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, has struck eastern Afghanistan, less than a week after a powerful quake in the same region killed more than 2,200 people and injured thousands of others.
At least 3,640 people were injured in the first quake, of magnitude 6, which hit the densely populated rural areas of Kunar, Nangarhar and Laghman provinces on Sunday, and a subsequent magnitude 5.5 quake on Tuesday, according to official reports.
The real toll is feared to be higher, with rescue efforts ongoing in the steep terrain hindered by landslides and rockfalls damaging already poor roads.
The latest tremor, at a depth of 10 km, occurred late on Thursday and was followed by a series of aftershocks on Friday morning, one of which measured 5.4, according to the German Research Center for Geosciences.
“An aftershock occurs every 30 minutes. People are extremely frightened. Every time there’s an aftershock, we hear women and girls screaming. They fear the same devastation they witnessed during the first earthquake,” said Abdul Fatah Jawad, director of the Ehsas Welfare and Social Services Organization, who was with a team delivering aid to survivors in Kunar.
