Eight members of a family killed in earthquake in Afghanistan

International Desk: PNN

A strong earthquake in the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul province, Afghanistan, killed eight members of a single family. Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman reported on Saturday that a two-year-old child was the only survivor. The child was rescued in an injured condition by Afghanistan’s Disaster Management Agency.

The earthquake struck on Friday at 8:42 PM local time, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, with a depth of 186 km. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter was in Badakhshan, a northeastern province of the country.

The capital, Kabul, is approximately 290 km away. However, as the epicenter was in a remote province, local authorities took considerable time to relay information to Kabul.

The deadly earthquake was felt across various regions of Afghanistan. Tremors were observed in Kabul and even in New Delhi, India. Pakistan also experienced tremors, particularly in Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat, and Shangla. No reports of injuries or damage have emerged from Pakistan so far.

Due to the earthquake-prone Hindu Kush mountain range, Afghanistan frequently faces seismic disasters. Being a poor country, it is especially difficult to handle natural disasters in remote areas. In rural regions, many houses are made of mud, bricks, and wood, increasing the risk of damage.

Notably, in August of the previous year, a magnitude-6 earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed nearly 2,200 people, with entire mountainous villages in Kunar province destroyed.