Another powerful earthquake hits southeast Afghanistan amid deepening humanitarian crisis

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan on Thursday at a depth of 10 kilometres, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said.

The latest tremor adds to a series of devastating earthquakes that have shaken the country this week. Earlier quakes killed more than 2,200 people and injured over 3,600 in Afghanistan's eastern provinces, according to figures from local authorities and aid agencies.

Sunday's initial earthquake, registering a magnitude of 6, was among the deadliest in recent Afghan history. It struck at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres, causing widespread destruction in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. Entire villages were flattened, with mud-brick homes collapsing on sleeping families.

The United Nations and other humanitarian organisations say the crisis is deepening, with tens of thousands of survivors now homeless. Aid agencies have raised concerns about diminishing supplies and are calling for immediate support to address the critical shortage of food, shelter, and medical care.

"Families have lost everything. The scale of devastation is heartbreaking," one humanitarian coordinator told reporters on Wednesday, adding that relief efforts were being hampered by blocked roads and damaged infrastructure.

Many of the affected areas are hard to reach, making aid delivery more difficult. Emergency workers are struggling to respond quickly enough as the number of affected people continues to rise.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) confirmed that Thursday’s quake occurred at the same depth as the earlier ones, raising fears of continued seismic activity in the region.

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