Afghan aftershock sends villagers fleeing

Quake casualty figures still uncertain

February 9, 1998
Web posted at: 9:02 a.m. EST (1402 GMT)

In this story:

• New tremors, new deaths reported
• Roads blocked; aid arriving by air, donkey
• Civil war complicates aid effort
• Related stories and sites

RUSTAQ, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Apparently fearing more tremors, hundreds of villagers are fleeing mountainous northeast Afghanistan in the wake of an earthquake and aftershocks that killed thousands, a Red Cross spokesman said Monday.

Meanwhile, some international aid workers began to acknowledge that the death toll could be much higher than previously thought.

The figures being used by various aid agencies and Afghan officials vary widely because it has been difficult to get accurate information from the disaster area where at least 11 villages are reported to have been destroyed.

Between 2,000 and 5,000 people are believed to have died in Wednesday's 6.1-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tremors in Afghanistan's remote Rustaq district, 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of the capital Kabul.

Thousands more, left homeless by landslides that crumbled entire villages, are suffering in subfreezing temperatures, said Juan Martinez, the Red Cross spokesman in Kabul.

	Kris Hurlburt of the Red Cross reports on the difficulties involved in the relief effort:
"...it's difficult to travel by road..." AIFF or WAV (319 K / 14 sec. audio) "...we have been investing a lot of time in finding airstrips..." AIFF or WAV (532 K / 24 sec. audio)

Those fleeing are heading for the Takhar provincial capital of Taloqan, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the quake zone.

New tremors, new deaths reported

New tremors over the weekend killed 500 to 600 more people, the Afghan ambassador to India, Masood Khalili, said on Monday in New Delhi.

Khalili, who spoke to officials in Rustaq by satellite telephone, said the latest aftershock rumbled through one or two villages at about midnight Sunday. The number of casualties was unknown.

Aid groups have been scrambling to reach the area, nestled at the junction of the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains, since Friday, when reports of the first quake emerged.

Initially, aid workers were skeptical about the high casualty figures Afghan officials gave, noting that the region is sparsely populated and that officials have exaggerated natural disasters in the past.

But physicians from Doctors Without Borders, the first international aid agency to reach the area, have reported that 1,800 people died in one village alone, where 600 homes were destroyed, Martinez said.

He did not name the village, but Khalili said the worst-hit village, Ragh, had 1,800 casualties. In another village, Ghunji, 1,600 people died and 600 homes crumbled under landslides, Khalili said.

The Red Cross is officially sticking with a preliminary death toll of 2,150 until its first team, which reached the area Sunday, reports back.

But a Red Cross official in neighboring Pakistan, who asked not to be named, said the group expects to have to increase its estimate once it hears from the team.

Roads blocked; aid arriving by air, donkey

A Red Cross plane has landed at an airstrip in Hajaghar, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the affected area, Red Cross officials in Pakistan said Monday. Another Red Cross plane touched down Sunday afternoon.

Afghan military helicopters are apparently helping ferry medical and sanitation supplies that the planes brought to the worst-hit villages. The tremors cracked the roads into the area, Afghan officials say.

Khalili said volunteers from neighboring areas were coming to the quake-hit region, bringing whatever food they could spare and even a few pairs of shoes for homeless survivors.

The Doctors Without Borders team reported a shortage of clean water and have expressed fears that disease and dehydration could cause more deaths, Martinez said.

A U.N. team was approaching Rustaq from neighboring Badakshan province on donkeys and horses, after a truck convoy failed to pass through sheer mountain passes covered in snow and ice, U.N. officials said in Pakistan.

The team riding donkeys reached a village on the outskirts of the affected area, where it reported that 320 people had died and another 400 were wounded, the officials said.

The U.N. trucks, carrying thousands of pounds of blankets, plastic sheeting and high-protein biscuits, were diverted to another route and were expected to reach Rustaq Tuesday.

A separate U.N. team flew to the region by helicopter Monday from Dushanbe, the capital of neighboring Tajikistan, the officials said.

Civil war complicates aid effort

A Red Cross convoy passed safely Sunday through front lines where the Taliban Islamic militia is battling the opposition alliance that controls 15 percent of northern Afghanistan, including Takhar. The convoy was expected to reach the quake victims Monday.

The Taliban, which controls 85 percent of Afghanistan, announced a unilateral three-day cease-fire starting Saturday for relief efforts.

There were sporadic reports of continued fighting in Bangi, a town 70 kilometers (42 miles) southwest of Rustaq at the border between Takhar and Kunduz province, U.N. officials said. They could not be independently confirmed.

Meanwhile, a team from the International Federation for the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies returned Monday to Dushanbe after guards at the border refused to let them cross, said spokesman Jan Valfells in Geneva.

The United Nations has said a few separate teams have been allowed to cross the border, but may still be almost 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the quake-affected area, and near front lines between the Taliban and its northern enemies.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Aftershocks add to death toll, hinder aid to Afghanistan - February 8, 1998
• Thousands reported killed in Afghanistan quake - February 6, 1998
• China earthquake survivors face freezing temperatures - January 12, 1998
• China army rushes aid to homeless quake survivors - January 10, 1998
• Dozens die in earthquake near Beijing - January 10, 1998
• Quake kills 23, collapses buildings near China's Great Wall - January 10, 1998

Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

• United Nations Home Page
• U.S. Geological Survey
• Worldwide information on earthquakes
• Seismology Resources on the Internet
• U.S. Geological Survey - Earthquake Information Center, Golden Colorado
• University of Washington - Seismology and Earthquake Information
• Global Earthquake Response Center
• Afghanistan Online

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards & chat

© 1998 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.