Afghan commandos were airdropped into earthquake-hit eastern regions of the country on Monday to help search for survivors trapped under the rubble of collapsed houses, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The first quake, with a magnitude of 6 and a depth of just 10 km, struck around midnight on Sunday and caused heavy damage in the provinces of Kunar and Nagarhar. It is one of the deadliest earthquakes in Afghanistan in recent years, with the death toll now exceeding 1,400.
A second quake with a magnitude of 5.5 shook the region yesterday evening, causing panic and temporarily interrupting rescue operations. Rockfalls from the mountains blocked roads to remote villages.
Dozens of commandos were airdropped into hard-to-reach areas where helicopters could not land to help evacuate the wounded, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, the head of the Kunar disaster management department.
The authorities have set up a camp to coordinate supplies and emergency aid. Two centers are overseeing the transportation of the wounded, the burial of the dead and the rescue of survivors, he added.
Rescuers are using helicopters to transport the injured to hospitals, overcoming difficult mountainous terrain and adverse weather conditions to reach villages near the Pakistan border, where the tremors have destroyed mud-brick houses.
According to the latest figures from the Taliban government, 1,411 people have been killed, 3,124 have been injured and more than 5,400 houses have been destroyed. The UN has warned that the death toll could continue to rise as people are still trapped under the rubble.