At least ten killed in 5.3 magnitude earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan

An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 on the Richter scale with the center ten kilometers deep in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province, has left at least ten dead in the town of Kunar, in northeastern Afghanistan.

According to the provincial head of Information and Culture, Mawlawi Mohamed Hanaf, dozens of homes have been destroyed in many areas of the province as a result of the quake, which occurred at around 2:27 a.m. (local time), according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), as reported by the Jaama news agency.

Personnel from the Taliban’s Natural Disaster Combat Authority have been deployed to the affected areas. The death toll is expected to rise, as the exact number of casualties in the various provinces is unknown, Bajtar news agency has reported.

Last June, an earthquake with epicenter about 44 kilometers from the city of Jost (east), near the border with Pakistan, left more than a thousand dead, a tragedy for which numerous international actors spoke out.