Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - A senior official said on Friday that Afghanistan does not have enough medical supplies to treat the inj...
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| Image: Reuters |
Mohammad Nassim Haqqani, a spokesman for the disaster ministry, told Reuters that the quake early Wednesday morning hurt about 2,000 people and destroyed or damaged 10,000 homes.
"The health ministry doesn't have enough drugs. We need medical aid and other necessities because it's a big disaster," he said.
The 6.1 magnitude earthquake happened about 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Kabul, near the Pakistani border. It happened in a region of dry mountains with small towns that has been fought over many times during Afghanistan's long history of war.
Poor communication and a lack of good roads have made it harder to help people in a country that is facing a humanitarian crisis that got much worse after the Taliban took over in August and U.S.-led international forces left.
The disaster is a big test for the hardline Islamists, who have been mostly left alone. Many people have avoided them because they are worried about human rights, and sanctions have cut them off from much direct international help.
Thursday, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates all said they would send help. The border has already been crossed by goods from Pakistan.
India, which has a tense relationship with the Taliban, said that it had sent 27 tonnes of supplies to international aid agencies on two flights.
Haqqani said that the search for survivors was over 48 hours after the disaster happened.
He said, "The search operation is over."
He didn't say more about why. After a lot longer, people have been pulled alive from the rubble of other earthquakes.
There are a lot of earthquakes in large parts of South Asia because the Indian plate is pushing north into the Eurasian plate.
In 2015, a big earthquake hit the remote northeast of Afghanistan, killing hundreds of people there and in nearby northern Pakistan.
