24 June 2022
A deadly 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan on June 22. The most affected provinces are Khost and Paktika. A few hours after the disaster, initial reports showed that more than 1,000 people had been killed. The number of victims should unfortunately continue to increase: many people remained trapped in rubble due to collapsed houses and many telecommunications infrastructures were destroyed, preventing feedback from the field.
The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), with support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has mobilized staff and volunteers from its local branches to conduct an immediate response and assessments.
An emergency coordination meeting of Red Cross Red Crescent partners in the country was held the same day. Available food and non-food items for an ongoing response to multiple humanitarian crises are now being redirected to the areas hardest hit by the earthquake to meet immediate needs. Trucks carrying relief items as well as ambulances have already been dispatched. In total, in addition to food, several thousand of tents, tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, cleaning and hygiene equipment are already on the way.
A multi-sectoral Red Cross emergency response and assessment team has also left Kabul and is on its way to the disaster areas to clarify the needs of local populations.
In addition, Paktika’s three mobile health teams have been redirected to respond to immediate needs resulting from the earthquake. Additional medical supplies are being mobilized from Kabul.
Increased global support is needed to provide sufficient humanitarian assistance. Early reports indicate that the scale of humanitarian needs will be enormous.
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