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Afghanistan hit by deadliest earthquake in 20 years

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This photograph taken on June 22, 2022 and received as a courtesy of the Afghan government-run Bakhtar News Agency shows soldiers and Afghan Red Crescent Society officials near a helicopter at an earthquake hit area in Afghanistan's Gayan district, Paktika province. - A powerful earthquake struck a remote border region of Afghanistan overnight killing at least 920 people and injuring hundreds more, officials said on June 22, with the toll expected to rise as rescuers dig through collapsed dwellings. (Photo by Bakhtar News Agency / AFP) / XGTY / EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT

Soldiers and Afghan Red Crescent Society officials near a helicopter at an earthquake-hit area in Afghanistan’s Gayan district, Paktika province. [Bakhtar News Agency via AFP]

Published On 22 Jun 2022

A powerful earthquake struck a rural, mountainous region of southeastern Afghanistan early on Wednesday, killing at least 920 people and injuring 600 others in the deadliest quake in two decades, authorities said.

Officials warned that the already grim toll would likely rise.

Information remained scarce on the magnitude 5.9 quake, but quakes of that strength would be expected to cause severe damage in the remote area, where homes and other buildings are poorly constructed and landslides are common.

The earthquake comes as Afghanistan has been facing a dire humanitarian crisis that has been compounded by Western sanctions imposed following the Taliban’s takeover of the country last August.

Footage from Paktika showed people being carried into helicopters to be airlifted from the area. Others were treated on the ground. One resident could be seen receiving IV fluids while sitting in a plastic chair outside the rubble of his home and still more people were sprawled on gurneys. Some images showed residents picking through clay bricks and other rubble from destroyed stone houses.

Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund convened an emergency meeting at the presidential palace to coordinate the relief effort for victims in Paktika and Khost.

Some remote areas of Pakistan saw reports of damage to homes near the Afghan border, but it was not immediately clear whether that was due to rain or the earthquake, said Taimoor Khan, a disaster management spokesperson in the area.

Mountainous Afghanistan and the larger region of South Asia along the Hindu Kush mountains have long been vulnerable to devastating earthquakes.

In 2015, a large earthquake that struck the country’s northeast killed more than 200 people in Afghanistan and neighbouring northern Pakistan. In 1998, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake and subsequent tremors in Afghanistan’s remote northeast killed at least 4,500 people.

n news agency Bakhtar, Afghans look at destruction caused by an earthquake in the province of Paktika, eastern Afghanistan

Afghans look at the destruction caused in the province of Paktika, eastern Afghanistan. [Bakhtar News Agency via AP]

This photograph taken on June 22, 2022 and received as a courtesy of the Afghan government-run Bakhtar News Agency shows a member of the Afghan Red Crescent Society giving medical treatment to a victim following an earthquake in Afghanistan's Gayan district, Paktika province. - A powerful earthquake struck a remote border region of Afghanistan overnight killing at least 920 people and injuring hundreds more, officials said on June 22, with the toll expected to rise as rescuers dig through collapsed dwellings. (Photo by Bakhtar News Agency / AFP) / XGTY / EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT

A member of the Afghan Red Crescent Society gives medical treatment to a victim in Gayan district. [Bakhtar News Agency via AFP]

Afghans look at destruction caused by an earthquake in the province of Paktika, eastern Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (Bakhtar News Agency via AP)

Afghans look at the destruction caused by an earthquake in the province of Paktika, eastern Afghanistan. [Bakhtar News Agency via AP]

In this photo released by a state-run news agency Bakhtar, Afghans evacuate wounded in an earthquake in the province of Paktika, eastern Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (Bakhtar News Agency via AP)

Afghans evacuate the wounded in the province of Paktika. [Bakhtar News Agency via AP]

People carry injured to a helicopter

People carry injured residents to a helicopter following the earthquake. [Bakhtar News Agency via Reuters]

Afghanistan Earthquake

In this image taken from video, Taliban fighters secure a government helicopter to evacuate injured people in Gayan district. [Bakhtar News Agency via AP]

People carry injured to be evacuated following

People carry the injured to be evacuated in Paktika province. [Bakhtar News Agency via Reuters]

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