Following the powerful earthquake struck that Badakshan Province in Afghanistan yesterday, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan quickly mobilized resources to assess the damage and plan the initial response. The National Security Council met this afternoon to discuss the earthquake and ensure the government resources were correctly allocated. The national level stock lists recently updated by the clusters show that there are sufficient shelter kits for over 8000 people, more than 13,000 blankets and over 15,000 people can be served by non-food item packages available in country. One emergency trauma kit was prepositioned in Jawzjan, Kunduz, Baghlan, and Ghazni which covers 100 major surgeries in each location. One basic health kit was prepositioned in Takhar and Fayzabad, which covers basic health services for 3,000 people for one month in each location.
Assessment teams were on the ground all day and, while details are clearer, some remote and difficult to access areas (Panjsher for example) have not been assessed. Following receipt of information from the assessment teams, initial reports have been updated and now indicate that 100 people were killed, 375 people were injured and 9509 homes damaged or destroyed which doesn’t fully measure the human impact.
The respective Provincial Disaster Management Committees (PMDC) met today to receive damage reports, initiate further assessments and begin planning the response. The Humanitarian Regional Team met in Mazar-e-Sharif to support the government efforts. The government teams dispatched from Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Defence have restored access to roads from Jalabad to Kabul and Taloqan to Kunduz that were blocked by landslides.
The government is leading assessment and response efforts. With the approach of winter, the immediate concerns and needs will most likely consist of emergency shelter, winterization and water and sanitation support. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Afghanistan are supporting the on-going efforts of the government to assess and respond to the people impacted by the earthquake. The governments of China, India and Iran have also offered their support during this crisis. Thus far, there have been no formal requests from the Government for assistance.