Landslides and
Seismic Activity
Badakhshan is in the most remote and mountainous
part of the country, bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. Hundreds of
homes were buried under mud and rocks when a section of a mountain collapsed
following torrential rain. The first landslide swallowed 300 to 400 homes in
the Argo district of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan where an
estimated 2,700 people resided. At least 2,000 people were killed by landslides
in northeastern Afghanistan in the worst natural disaster on record for the
war-torn nation. The landslides were triggered by heavy rains in Badakhshan province
bordering Tajikistan, where melting snow and seasonal showers make the region
vulnerable to such calamities. The toll is more than double that of the worst
natural disaster recorded in Afghanistan in May 1991 when floods killed 728
people, according to the international emergency disaster database of the
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.
The area is far from a major city and is bordered by
Tajikistan to the north and Pakistan to the south. Rocky terrain and mountains
make it difficult to reach. Relief was made difficult by how the disaster site
lies in a far-flung mountain valley, where homes are terraced on hillsides and
uniformly made with stone-colored exteriors, officials said. One mountainside
had its face sheared off, and beneath it was freshly tilled soil and rock. Afghanistan
is one of the poorest countries in Asia, which has been continuously facing wars
for many decades. Therefore, due lack of security and advance tools/machinery in
Afghanistan, government is doing much to prevent or aware people for these kind
of disaster.
tragic occurrence, but very well written entry Malala. Good information, good pictures.
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