What we know and what we don’t do

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the mountain Eastern region in Afghanistan, with authorities saying hundreds of people were killed.

Quake Hit at 23:47 local time on Sunday (19:17 GMT), and its epicenter is 27 km (17 miles) from Jalalabad, the fifth largest city of the country, in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

It was shallow – only 8 km deep – and felt 140 km in the capital, Kabul, as well as in the neighboring Pakistan. It is believed that hundreds of people have died.

The initial quake was followed by a number of major consequences that were thought to have caused additional deaths.

The details still appear and it may take some time before the degree of damage and the number of deaths are known.

Initial reports show significant casualties and widespread damage in parts of the provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar.

These mountainous areas are extremely challenging to reach even in the best times, which makes it difficult to save and relief operations.

More than 600 people are afraid of dead, said the Interior Ministry of Taliban, but warns that there is still no clear death.

The BBC was told that the road leading to the epicenter was blocked because of a landslide, so the Taliban government uses helicopters to bring people out.

Many government sources have said dozens of houses have been buried under the ruins. Assistance has been requested from international organizations.

Access on the way to the worst affected areas is still blocked, but hundreds of homes have probably been destroyed, according to Salam al-Janabi of the UN UNICEF charity.

The earthquake came after a flash floods over the weekend, which left at least five dead, according to local media. The flood, which caused landslides and damaged infrastructure, also temporarily disturbed traffic between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As we have reported, the nature of the terrain means that it is difficult to gain access and there are limited communications – which means it will take longer to get updates on the situation. There is also likely to be damage to the infrastructure, which makes it even more difficult to reach the affected areas.

During previous major earthquakes, the death number jumped steeply after accessing the affected areas.

However, there are other factors that make it difficult for our ability to receive accurate information about the situation and to obtain assistance in the affected areas.

Since August 2021, the country has been under the control of the Taliban, whose government does not recognize the greater part of the world.

The return of the hard Islamist power group caused an emigration to international journalists, with organizations such as the BBC pulling many of their staff from the country.

Several help and NGO agencies also stopped their work in Afghanistan as a result of what – which means there are fewer ways to check what’s going on there.

However, there are no restrictions on admission to international assistance.

Afghanistan was pushed into an economic collapse when the Taliban took over more than 23 million Afghans now need humanitarian aid, according to the International Rescue Committee.

Most foreign donations in Afghanistan have also been terminated by international sanctions that date from when the Taliban was in power in the 90s, they are still available – although releases for humanitarian relief have been made.

Prior to the ingestion of the Taliban, about 80% of Afghanistan’s budget comes from foreign donors. This finances almost all public health, which has since collapsed.

Jalalabad’s main hospital – the largest medical facility, close to the epicenter – is already overwhelmed, being at the center of the intersection for the tens of thousands of Afghans who are deported by Nigburring Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s financial assets abroad (mainly held in the US) are also frozen while Sharpes of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Earlier this year, it had a significant effect on the delivery of help.

Afghanistan is very predisposed to earthquakes because it is located at the top of a number of lines of the fault, where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet.

Earthquakes occur when there is a sudden movement on the tectonic plates that make up the earth’s surface. Fractures called lines of damage occur where the plates collide.

In 2023, a series of earthquakes in Herat province killed over 1000 people. In 2022, Pactica Province was struck by a quake who also killed over 1000.

Shallow earthquakes are common in the country and are more destructive as seismic waves have a less distance to travel to the earth’s surface and therefore retain much of their power.

Buildings in Afghanistan also tend to be made of timber, mud brick or weak concrete that are not resistant to quakes.

Many damage also comes from landslides caused by earthquakes that can levee houses in mountain villages and block the rivers, causing a flood.