Amu: More than 500,000 people, including over 263,000 children, have been affected by last week’s powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, UNICEF said in its first flash update. The 6.0-magnitude quake struck at 11:47 p.m. on Aug. 31 in Kuz Kunar district of Nangarhar province, flattening villages and triggering landslides. Seventeen aftershocks of magnitude 4.0 or greater followed, including three above 5.0. According to UNICEF, at least 2,205 people were killed and 3,640 others injured. Among the dead were 393 girls and 338 boys. The agency said 271 children were left orphaned and 81 children are currently hospitalized without relatives, raising fears they may have lost their entire families. The earthquake destroyed or damaged more than 6,700 houses across Kunar, Nangarhar and Laghman provinces. Entire valleys were cut off by landslides, complicating rescue efforts. Click here to read more (external link).
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