At least 12 people were killed and four others injured after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck parts of Afghanistan Friday night, deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said on Saturday.
The tremor affected communities in the capital Kabul and the eastern provinces of Panjshir, Logar, Nangarhar, Laghman and Nuristan. In addition to the human toll, it damaged 38 residential houses and affected a total of 40 families, Fitrat said in a post on X.
The epicenter, at a depth of 186.4km and located 35km south of Jurm district in northern Badakhshan province, was initially determined to be at 36.55 degrees north latitude and 70.85 degrees east longitude.
Strong tremors were felt in Kabul and adjoining provinces.
In the Gosfand Dara area of the Bagrami District in central Kabul, a family of nine was nearly wiped out. Only a two-year-old toddler survived.
The family's father, Najibullah, had been living in a temporary tent inside a four-wall compound. He was the head of a household of nine and had been planning to start a new life, collecting every single material to build a proper shelter beside the compound.
But in an instant, the future he had been building was erased.
Locals and rescue teams arrived at the scene and pulled out bodies for hours. The father, mother, and six children aged between 14 and four were all dead. A two-year-old toddler was found under a mattress, unconscious but breathing. The child has since been hospitalized in a health facility in Kabul.
Muhibullah Niazi, Najibullah's neighbor, shared a joint wall with the victim's family. That wall stood next to the four-wall quadrangle where Najibullah had pitched his temporary tent.
Soon after the wall collapsed, Muhibullah raced to the scene along with his wife, sons, and other family members. They desperately tried to rescue Najibullah and his children but it was too late.
"There were big rocks upon them and I was shouting as I was still hearing their voices trapped under the debris. They were moaning in pain. I was desperately shouting, and the locals arrived hearing my screams. Around 300 to 350 people rushed to the scene," said Muhibullah Nizai.
"As I arrived into the area along with my friend, we started digging in the debris and we found bodies of three females. People were bringing their rickshaws, and I brought my car and rushed the bodies to a hospital. When we reached there, we were told that they are already dead," said Abdullah Sulaimanzai, a local resident.
The recent reports show that the recent rains and natural disasters have resulted in casualties and financial losses in several parts of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, particularly in the geologically active Hindu Kush mountain region. A 6.3-magnitude quake struck the same area in November last year, killing more than two dozen people and injuring nearly 1,000 in Samangan and Balkh provinces.
5.8-magnitude quake kills 12, injures 4 in Afghanistan
5.8-magnitude quake kills 12, injures 4 in Afghanistan
