More than 800 were killed after a strong earthquake hit Afghanistan

The survivors of an earthquake spent more than 800 people and wounded thousands in eastern Afghanistan a night in the open, as rescue efforts continued.

Most of the deaths occurred in the mountainous province of Connar, which was the closest to the center of the 6.0 size when it was struck on Sunday night. Officials warn that the death toll may rise significantly as the entire villages have been destroyed.

Many countries have already pledged to help, while some villages remain unable to reach them, and local health facilities have been flooded.

The disaster comes at a time when Afghanistan describes extreme drought, aid discounts and what the World Food Program describes as an unprecedented hunger crisis.

The earthquake was hit at 23:47 local time (19:47 GMT on Sunday, about 27 km (17 miles) east of Jalalabad – the fifth largest city in the country, in the eastern Nangarhar province.

Frededullah was a preferred home at home, on the banks of the Connar River, when the tremor defeated him awake.

“There was a very strong earthquake, accompanied by sounds that were very frightening,” he told the BBC.

“We did not sleep until the morning. After the earthquake, there were small tremors, and they are still there.”

Mr. Fazley said that he went to the clinic in the city, which helped transport the dead and wound them to ambulances to be transported to the hospital in the south in Nangarhar Province.

“It was a very frightening situation, just an atmosphere of fear and terrorism,” he said.

A resident of Mazar Dara, in the Nurgal area, said 95 % of the village had been destroyed – with five to 10 people injured in each family.

Konar – a rugged mountainous area with limited agricultural lands – witnessed the worst damage. The roads in the area are often clay wandering paths around the mountains, while homes are made of clay, stones and clay.

The region has also witnessed huge floods and landslides in the past few days, preventing access to many areas.

With road ban, government rescue operations must be carried out by air, with a difference in helicopters only from reaching the affected areas on Monday morning.

“The entire villages are still flat, and the roads to the deep mountainous areas are still closed. Now, for us, you do not find the priority dead under the rubble, but rather communicate with the injured,” said Taliban official in Konar Province.

Cases of people trapped under the rubble were reported for hours and died while waiting for rescue men.

Sayed Rahim – one of the participants in the rescue efforts – said that although many of them have been rescued, there are concerns that others are still trapped.

“Some people sent us messages that there are houses that were destroyed, and some people are still under rocks,” he told the BBC.

The villagers were in the mountains Helping each other in searching for a dead and wounded Between flat buildings.

Joy Singal, a regional Red Cross spokesman, told Al -Jazeera that the survivors would be afraid to go inside their homes, even if they are still standing, on fears of apostasy, adding that the number of tents in the area was not enough.

A number of countries – including China, India, the United Kingdom and Switzerland – pledged to donate aid. Foreign Minister David Lami said that emergency financing in the United Kingdom “will help our partners to provide critical health care and emergency supplies to the most cruel strike.”

The main hospital in Jalalabad was immersed, where he was sitting in the middle of the crossing point for tens of thousands of Afghans who were deported from Pakistan.

The chaotic scenes site was on Monday – with their injured relatives looking for their loved ones, volunteers and rescue teams at the place.

A woman who does not feel that she had lost family members in the earthquake, while an old man appeared in a state of amazement and loss, unable to speak to anyone.

A doctor said that about 460 victims have been brought in since the earthquake – 250, and the others were treated and left.

The internet connection in these areas is very limited, which makes communication and coordination difficult.

Since August 2021, Afghanistan has been under the control of the Taliban, whose government has been recognized only by Russia.

Several relief agencies and NGOs have suspended their work in Afghanistan when the militant Islamic group returned to power.

Most foreign donations of Afghanistan and international sanctions were suspended, which dates back to the time when the Taliban were in the first power in the 1990s, still valid – although the exemptions were made for humanitarian relief.

UK financing will be directed to the United Nations Population and Red Cross Fund.

Afghanistan is not alien to earthquakes because it is located on a number of rift lines.

In 2023, a series of earthquakes were killed in Hirat County, more than 1,000 people, after about 2000 were killed in Baktika Province in the previous year.

The last earthquake was very fatal because it was very shallow – which draws attention at a depth of 8 km (5 miles) – and felt 140 km away in the capital, Kabul, as well as in neighboring Pakistan. To be classified as shallow, the earthquake must occur less than 70 km below the surface.

Shallow earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, especially in the slopes of the Himalayas, where tectonic paintings slide beyond each other.