Thousands feared dead after earthquake

Up to five thousand people may have been killed by a series of powerful earthquakes that hit northern Afghanistan on Monday and Tuesday. The United Nations and international relief agencies have started an emergency assessment of the area in northern Afghanistan’s Baghlan province, where more than ten thousand people have been displaced by the disaster.

"Reportedly 1,500 have been killed with another 1,500 wounded but the figure is changing constantly as information comes in," Rebecca Richards, a UN spokeswoman told IRIN in Kabul.

Aid workers said most of the deaths occurred when hundreds of buildings collapsed in the district of Nahrin after an initial quake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale devastated the region at about 1930 local time on Monday. About 54,000 people live in Nahrin. Although the quake was not particularly powerful, its epicentre - 175 km north of Kabul in the Hindu Kush mountains - was close to Nahrin and hence the loss of life and destruction.

Acting country coordinator for the French NGO ACTED, Sebastian Trives, told reporters in Kabul that his agency had done its best to respond quickly to the crisis. "We sent in 500 tents and 1,000 blankets for the quake hit area," he told IRIN. "We will be sending in more relief goods, while other aid agencies are preparing their own plans," he added.

A seismological official in the western Pakistani city of Peshawar told IRIN that they had recorded more than 35 aftershocks following the major tremor, which was felt in several cities in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. A 7.2 magnitude quake in the Hindu Kush mountains on 3 March killed more than 100 people. It was the strongest in the region since 1983.

Aid workers told IRIN that several NGOs were rushing in tents, blankets and emergency health kits to the region from offices and supply depots in northern Afghanistan. Supplies from Kabul would take at least 15 hours by road to reach the area.

"A helicopter from ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] will be leaving today at 1700 hours carrying WHO medical kits, a UNICEF immunisation expert as well as a mobile office that will be set up there [Nahrin]," Richards said.

Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai has sent a team of ministers to the area to assess the damage and coordinate relief work.