“On edge”: Major earthquake shakes northern Afghanistan The pirates are back: the number of attacks has increased again in 2023

There was a major earthquake in northern Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon (local time). Initially there were no reports of deaths, injuries or damage.

The American Earthquake Observatory (USGS) estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 6.4. The epicenter was in the Afghan province of Badakhshan; according to media reports, tremors were felt as far away as the Indian capital New Delhi and in its Central Asian neighbor Tajikistan. People fled their homes in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

A resident of the Afghan capital Kabul said he recalled the recent devastating series of earthquakes in western Afghanistan. About 1,500 people were killed in a series of earthquakes in Herat province in October, according to the United Nations.

“Our teams are on high alert and we are in contact with our officials in the remote areas,” rescuers in Pakistan’s border area with Afghanistan told the German news agency. The aid group International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned of aftershocks in the coming days and weeks and difficulties in containing them. “Humanitarian aid in Afghanistan is already overburdened and struggling with the consequences of decades of conflict, climate change and the economic crisis,” the organization said.

Serious earthquakes occur regularly in the region where the Arabian, Indian and Eurasian plates meet. At a depth of more than 200 kilometers, the last earthquake was well below the Earth’s surface, reducing the chance of damage.

(hah/sda/dpa)