Afghanistan Earthquake Aftermath: Experts Analyze High Death Toll, Call for Resilient Building

As Afghanistan grapples with the aftermath of a devastating 6.0 magnitude earthquake, which has claimed at least 800 lives and injured 2,000, experts are scrutinizing the factors contributing to the catastrophic death toll. The shallow 8km deep quake struck a mountainous region near Jalalabad just before midnight on Sunday, triggering strong surface shaking and a series of aftershocks that caught many sleeping indoors.

The affected areas, remote and further hampered by landslides blocking roads, face immense challenges in rescue and recovery, making the exact death toll difficult to ascertain. This region, nestled within the seismically active Himalaya and Hindu Kush mountains, is prone to such disasters due to the friction between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, with previous quakes in October 2023 and the preceding year also causing significant loss of life.

Disaster resilience experts emphasize that while earthquakes are natural phenomena, poorly constructed buildings are the primary cause of fatalities. Rural Afghan communities often rely on locally sourced materials like mud bricks, stone, and raw lumber for construction, lacking engineered designs or building codes common in wealthier nations. This ‘monolithic’ construction style is highly vulnerable to the lateral shaking of an earthquake, leading to widespread collapses.

However, examples from neighboring Pakistan and Nepal demonstrate that cost-effective, earthquake-resilient building designs are achievable even in similar socio-economic conditions. Following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Pakistan established an authority to guide safer housing construction, while Nepal introduced minimum standards for its National Building Code after the 2015 Gorkha quakes. Indian engineer Anand Arya’s pioneering work on ‘non-engineered’ buildings also shows that simple reinforcements, such as continuous wall bands and corner supports, can significantly enhance structural integrity.

Advocates hope this latest tragedy will serve as a catalyst for Afghanistan to adopt similar initiatives, fostering a ‘building back better’ approach that could equip communities with greater resilience against future seismic events and ultimately save lives.

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