October 28, 2015 Afghanistan

Residents of the Badakhshans province were surprised by the strength of Monday's earthquake

Badakhshan is one of the poorest areas of Afghanistan, which often experiences floods, snowstorms and landslides. Local valleys and mountains complicate access to all areas of the province and they are accustomed to earthquakes. As a rule, it doesn’t lead to high loss of life because of the small population. Throughout Badakshan live less than a million people.

However, the strength of recent earthquakes, which reached 7.5 on the Richter scale, surprised local inhabitants. The shocks seriously affected neighbouring Pakistan and it was also felt in India. In Afghanistan, 7,600 houses felt it. Another roughly 1,500 homes resisted the earthquake, but are not habitable due to disturbed statics. In Pakistan around 4,000 buildings fell. Further damages are still summarized.

At present, it is stated that 258 died in Pakistan and 115 died in Afghanistan. A crowd of fellow students who left the school building in the Afghan province of Takhar in a panic from a coming earthquake that trampled 12 girls.

It is expected that the number of victims of Monday's disaster will continue to rise. For example, in 2005 when an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale killed 80 000 people in Pakistan and 3 million others were left homeless.

Therefore, Caritas Czech Republic on Monday announced a fundraiser to help Pakistan and Afghanistan. Donations can be sent to collection account 55660022/0800 by the Česká spořitelna, under the variable symbol 173 (Afghanistan) and 132 (Pakistan).

We would like to thank in advance all donors!