MSF: Earthquake in eastern Afghanistan

MSF visited the Nangarhar regional hospital in Jalalabad city, where more than 130 patients injured by the earthquake received surgery, and around 600 patients were admitted in the past 24h, as well as Laghman provincial hospital. The team distributed trauma and wounded kits to the two hospitals.

“The two hospitals were already working at full capacity before the earthquake, we saw many patients treated in the corridors and health workers in need of supplies. The humanitarian response needs to scale up urgently” explains Dr Fazal Hadi, MSF deputy medical coordinator.

MSF is assessing how to best contribute to the medical response. Many people remain under the rubble according to local sources, and the destruction of infrastructure has had a significant impact on living conditions and access to clean water, creating the risk of communicable disease.

Q&A:

What do you know about the earthquake that struck Afghanistan on the night of 31 August?

Just before midnight local time, a 6+ magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border. Local sources report more than 1,400 people killed and more than 3,000 injured across four eastern provinces, including Kunar and Nangarhar.

We felt the shockwave in Kabul, but all our staff is safe and accounted for.

Do you have activities in the affected areas? Do you know if there is access to medical facilities in the affected area?

MSF has no medical activities running in the areas most affected by the earthquake. There are three main hospitals that are responding to the emergency, Nangarhar regional hospital, Kunar provincial hospital and Laghman provincial hospital. Health organizations from the UN and humanitarian organisations started providing support. Since we have no presence in Kunar province, it is difficult for us to have any clear visibility of the situation in the area where most of the damage occurred.

Are you responding to the emergency? What are you seeing on the ground?

Today, Tuesday 2 September, an MSF team reached Jalalabad, a city close from the epicentre, which has become a hub of the emergency response. We went there to assess the needs in the affected area to prepare for a potential MSF medical intervention. Our colleagues visited the regional hospital in Jalalabad, where more than a hundred people injured in the earthquake have received surgery, and where around 600 patients have been admitted so far. The hospital was already full before the earthquake, and health workers are working at full capacity with lack of supplies. We distributed emergency kits and are planning to visit other affected areas to potentially offer support.

We are in touch and ready to collaborate with local authorities and health organizations present there. We will soon have better visibility on how we can best provide care to communities in Nangarhar, Kunar and Laghman provinces.

What do you think are the main needs?

It is difficult to assess at this stage, but such an earthquake in a hard-to-reach area has already resulted in a devastating human toll. Hospitals keep receiving patients who have mainly sustained trauma injuries, but many bodies remain under the rubble according to local sources. We fear the spread of diseases resulting from lack of basic hygiene, since access to clean water can become very challenging. The destruction of infrastructure has an impact on survivors’ living conditions, which is going to further exacerbate their needs.

While the full extent of the damage and needs is still being evaluated, there is no doubt that an urgent response from humanitarian and health actors is needed to provide assistance to the affected populations.

Voicenote from Dr Fazal Hadi, MSF deputy medical coordinator:

Transcript: My name is Dr Fazal Hadi, I am working as deputy medical coordinator for MSF in Afghanistan, today we visited Jalalabad regional hospital and Laghman provincial hospital to assess the number of casualties of the 31st August earthquake in Jalalabad Laghman and Kunar provinces, we donated some trauma kits and dressing kits to the two hospitals that can be used to treat those who have been injured in this earthquake in Kunar province.

Photos: