Afghanistan was hit by a massive earthquake Wednesday morning leading to the death of more than 1,000 people and injuring at least 1,500, according to local media.
Early reports indicate that the earthquake was between 5.9 and 6.1 in magnitude. Mountainous parts of eastern Afghanistan were most seriously affected as government officials say the death count could still rise.
“Rescuers rushed to the area by helicopter Wednesday, but the response is likely to be complicated since many international aid agencies left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover,” the Associated Press reported. “Reaching rural areas even in the best circumstances remains difficult in Afghanistan, a landlocked nation just smaller than Texas with rutted mountain roadways that may now have sustained significant damage.”
Tremors from the earthquake impacted nearby Pakistan, whose government meteorological department said the quake’s epicenter was in the Paktika province.
Wednesday’s earthquake has had the highest death toll for a seismic event in the area since 2002. Groups like the United Nations (U.N.) and the Red Crescent have already announced support for the victims of the earthquake.
Many Afghans are still unsure about the status of their friends and family in the region. One local journalist told the BBC that he didn’t find out about the death of his brother until hours after the disaster.
“Many people are not aware of the well-being of their relatives because their phones are not working,” the reporter said. “My brother and his family died, and I just learned it after many hours. Many villages have been destroyed.”
Another doctor in the area worried about the effects of the earthquake on the region’s already limited healthcare infrastructure.
“We didn’t have enough people and facilities before the earthquake, and now the earthquake has ruined the little we had,” the doctor said. “I don’t know how many of our colleagues are still alive.”
Locals told Reuters about seeing “many dead bodies.”
“It destroyed the houses of our neighbors,” said Faisal, who lives in the area. “When we arrived there were many dead and wounded. They sent us to the hospital.”
The earthquake comes as the country has been rife with internal strife as the Taliban, which took back power in August 2021, has worked to crack down on rival groups. In recent weeks, civilians in parts of northern Afghanistan have been illegally arrested and tortured by Taliban forces for associating with a rival group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said earlier this month.
“Taliban forces in Panjshir province have quickly resorted to beating civilians in their response to fighting against the opposition National Resistance Front,” said Patricia Grossman of HRW. “The Taliban’s longstanding failure to punish those responsible for serious abuses in their ranks puts more civilians at risk.”