What we know and what we do not know

An earthquake of 6.0 sized that the mountainous eastern region of Afghanistan, where the authorities said that hundreds of people were killed.

The earthquake was struck at 23:47 local time on Sunday (19:17 GMT) and its center was 27 km (17 miles) from Jalalabad, the fifth largest city in the country, in the eastern Nangarhar province.

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

The first earthquake was followed by a number of large final tremors, which are believed to have caused more deaths.

Details are still emerging and can be some time before the extent of damage and the number of deaths are known.

Initial reports indicate large victims and widespread damage in parts of Nangarhar and Connar provinces.

These mountainous areas are very difficult even at the best times, which hinder rescue and relief operations.

The Taliban Ministry of the Interior said that more than 600 people are afraid of dead.

The BBC was told that the road leading to the earthquake center has been banned due to the landslide, and therefore the Taliban government uses helicopters to remove people.

Multiple sources from the government said dozens of homes are buried under the rubble. The help of international organizations has been requested.

The road access is still being banned to the worst areas, but hundreds of homes are likely to be destroyed, according to Salam Al -Janeabi from UNICEF Charity of the United Nations.

The earthquake came in the wake of the amazing floods during the weekend, which left at least five people, according to the local media. The flood, which caused landslides and damaged infrastructure, has temporarily disrupted traffic between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As we have informed, the nature of the terrain means that it is difficult to reach and there are limited contacts – which means that it will take longer to get updates about the situation. There will also be damage to infrastructure, which makes it difficult to reach affected areas.

During the previous major earthquakes, the death toll jumped sharply once you reach the affected areas.

However, there are other factors that impede our ability to obtain accurate information about the situation and in obtaining aid in affected areas.

Since August 2021, the country has been under the control of the Taliban, whose government has not recognized most of the world.

The return of the militant Islamic group to power sparked emigration from international journalists, as organizations such as BBC withdrew many of its employees from the country.

Several relief agencies and NGOs have also suspended their work in Afghanistan as a result – which means that there are less ways to verify than what is happening there.

However, there are no restrictions to allow international aid.

Afghanistan has been pushed to collapse when the Taliban took over, and more than 23 million Afghans now need humanitarian assistance, according to the International Rescue Committee.

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.

Before the Taliban acquired, about 80 % of the budget of Afghanistan came from foreign donors. This is nearly all general health care, which has been collapsed since then.

The main hospital in Jalalabad – the largest medical facility near the earthquake center – is already steeped, as it was in the middle of the crossing point for tens of thousand Afghans who are deported from Pakistan Pakistan.

Financial assets in Afghanistan were also frozen (which was mainly held in the United States), while Sudden freeze on the United States Agency for International Development (USA International Development Agency) Earlier this year, it greatly affected the delivery of aid.

Afghanistan is very vulnerable to earthquakes because it is located at the head of a number of rift lines where Indian and Eurasia paintings meet.

Earthquakes occur when there is a sudden movement along the tectonic plates that form the surface of the earth. Fractures that are called rift lines are caused where the panels collide.

In 2023, a series of earthquakes in Hirat County has killed more than 1,000 people. In 2022, Baktika Province was injured in the earthquake Which also killed more than 1000.

Shallow earthquakes are common in the country and more destructive, as seismic waves have a lower distance to travel to the surface of the earth and thus keep a lot of their strength.

Buildings in Afghanistan also tend to be made of wood, clay bricks or weak concrete, which are not resistant to the earthquake.

Many damages also come from the earthquakes caused by earthquakes, which can settle homes in mountain villages and rivers of ban, causing floods.