Earthquake leaves 31 injured in eastern Afghanistan

PAKTIKA: A total of 31 people have been injured in the earthquake that hit Afghanistan's Paktika on Monday, media reported citing province authorities.

As per Afghanistan's local media outlet, TOLO News, Paktika's Head of Information and Culture Department, Muhammad Amin Huzaifa said that 31 people were injured in Monday's earthquake that hit Barmal, Giyan and Zirok districts and damaged dozens of homes.

He added that the injured have been evacuated and taken to nearby health centers. Notably, two earthquakes hit Afghanistan's east and northeast regions on Monday evening, local media reported.

As per the Tolo News citing US Geological Survey, an earthquake measuring 5.1 jolted in the eastern Afghanistan region, at 4:52 (local time) while the earlier one was reported in the northeast with 4.3 magnitudes.

Another earthquake of magnitude 4.7 shook Afghanistan at 06:40:00 IST on Tuesday as well.

Earlier, on June 22, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Afghanistan including the capital city Kabul killing over 1,000 people across Barmal and Giyan districts in Paktika province and Spera district in Khost province.

In addition, at least 1,455 people were injured across three of the six most-affected districts of Barmal, Giyan, and Spera - many of them seriously. Over 10,000 houses were destroyed.

The United Nations allocated USD 10 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Funds (UNCERF) to support the people of Afghanistan affected by the earthquake that struck the eastern part of the country.

Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF) of Bahrain has entered into an agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to distribute relief aid to support people in Afghanistan affected by the recent earthquake.

India had also handed over the consignments of relief assistance to support the Afghan nationals affected by the earthquake.

The relief assistance handed over by the Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary (PAI), JP Singh consisted of essential items including family ridge tents, sleeping bags, blankets, sleeping mats, etc to support the people of Afghanistan in quake-affected regions.

India also deployed a technical team to the Embassy in Kabul to coordinate the efforts of stakeholders for the delivery of humanitarian aid.