By Staff Reporter
Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government.
The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage.
Images released by Afghanistan’s Public Health Ministry showed funeral prayers, an injured person carried on a stretcher and people frantically digging through the rubble.
“Five people were martyred in this house, and three from that house, and another three in the other house in the back, all were found. But one boy and one girl are still missing,” one villager in Kunar province said.
The quake at 11:47 p.m. was centered 27 kilometers (17 miles) east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
It was just 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep.
Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.
The Taliban government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference Monday that the death toll had risen to at least 800 with more than 2,500 injured. He said most of the casualties were in Kunar.
Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. Many are poorly built.
