February 4, 1998 Afghanistan earthquake
Encyclopedia
February 4, 1998 Afghanistan earthquake occurred in northern Afghanistan
in the Afghanistan-Tajikistan
border region. The epicenter
of the earthquake
was located at Rostaq in the Takhar Province
near Afghan-Tajikistan border. The magnitude of the quake was 6.1 on the Richter scale and it lasted approximately 8 minutes and 7 seconds. Aftershock
s continued for the next seven days. The earthquake was also felt at Tashkent
and Dushanbe
.
, meet. To the south of Afghanistan, the Indian Plate moves northwards and to the north the Eurasian Plate
moves south-eastwards. The collision resulting from the movement of the plates has been under way for 50 million years. Due to this, Afghanistan is vulnerable to earthquakes. Both the Iranian Plate and the Eurasian Plate consists of continental crust
, which can neither sink nor be destroyed. As a result, the rocks between the two plates are forced upwards to form mountains. The constant movement of the Iranian Plate results in an increase in pressure. The earthquake on February 4, 1998 was caused by this increase in pressure.
, which controlled certain area, told the Afghan Islamic Press
that they removed more than 3,500 bodies. According to the estimates by the Taliban government in Kabul
, which ruled the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
at that time, 3,230 people died in the earthquake. Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF) later put the death toll at 4,000. The anti-Taliban Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe
asserted that approximately 15,000 people became homeless and dozens of villages were destroyed. Nearly 15,000 houses were destroyed primarily due to the landslide
s triggered by the quake. Approximately 10,000 people were injured and 6,725 livestock were killed in the earthquake.
and telecommunication
was poor. So it took three days for the news of the earthquake to reach Kabul. On February 7, reports of the quake began to reach the capital city. But relief work was hampered and delayed because of bad weather like fog
, low cloud and snowfalls, blocked mountain tracks (due to snowfall and landslide) and the civil war. Reports indicated that survivors were living without shelter in subzero temperature and many were starving. Several villagers were making their way down the mountain tracks along with their herds of goats.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
sent a team from Dushanbe
to the affected region for relief efforts. The first international relief team reached the affected area on February 7 and the first United Nations
(UN) team arrived there on February 10. A convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) reached the site on February 14 with 4,800 blankets, 800 quilt
s, 10 rolls of plastic sheeting and approximately 200 tents. Eleven days after the event, on February 16, helicopters were able to drop supplies to three isolated villages. The European Union
(EU) offered £1.3m of relief aid including blankets, medical equipment, water and tents. The Taliban ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan offered 100 tonnes each of rice and wheat, and approximately £40,000 to the affected region.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in the Afghanistan-Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
border region. The epicenter
Epicenter
The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...
of the earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
was located at Rostaq in the Takhar Province
Takhar Province
Takhār is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It was established in 1964 when Qataghan Province was divided into three provinces: Baghlan, Kunduz and Takhar. It is in the north-east of the country. Its capital is Taloqan. Its salt mines are one of Afghanistan's major mineral resources...
near Afghan-Tajikistan border. The magnitude of the quake was 6.1 on the Richter scale and it lasted approximately 8 minutes and 7 seconds. Aftershock
Aftershock
An aftershock is a smaller earthquake that occurs after a previous large earthquake, in the same area of the main shock. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock...
s continued for the next seven days. The earthquake was also felt at Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
and Dushanbe
Dushanbe
-Economy:Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the cities of Nurek and Kulob allowing for the industrialization of Dushanbe. The Nurek Dam, the world's highest as of 2008, generates 95% of Tajikistan's electricity, and another dam, the Roghun Dam, is planned on the Vakhsh River...
.
Cause
Afghanistan is situated on a major plate boundary. The location of the country is on the boundary where two tectonic plates, the Iranian Plate and the Eurasian PlateEurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
, meet. To the south of Afghanistan, the Indian Plate moves northwards and to the north the Eurasian Plate
Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
moves south-eastwards. The collision resulting from the movement of the plates has been under way for 50 million years. Due to this, Afghanistan is vulnerable to earthquakes. Both the Iranian Plate and the Eurasian Plate consists of continental crust
Continental crust
The continental crust is the layer of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. This layer is sometimes called sial due to more felsic, or granitic, bulk composition, which lies in...
, which can neither sink nor be destroyed. As a result, the rocks between the two plates are forced upwards to form mountains. The constant movement of the Iranian Plate results in an increase in pressure. The earthquake on February 4, 1998 was caused by this increase in pressure.
Casualties and damage
A spokesman for the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of AfghanistanUnited Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The United Islamic Front , known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996 under the leadership of Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud...
, which controlled certain area, told the Afghan Islamic Press
Afghan Islamic Press
Afghan Islamic Press is an Afghan news agency based in Peshawar, Pakistan. It was established 1982, during the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan, by Muhammad Yaqub Sharafat. Sharafat was the nephew of Maulavi Yunis Khales, one of the leaders of the anti-Soviet mujahideen guerrilla movement...
that they removed more than 3,500 bodies. According to the estimates by the Taliban government in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, which ruled the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
at that time, 3,230 people died in the earthquake. Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
(MSF) later put the death toll at 4,000. The anti-Taliban Afghan Embassy in Dushanbe
Dushanbe
-Economy:Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the cities of Nurek and Kulob allowing for the industrialization of Dushanbe. The Nurek Dam, the world's highest as of 2008, generates 95% of Tajikistan's electricity, and another dam, the Roghun Dam, is planned on the Vakhsh River...
asserted that approximately 15,000 people became homeless and dozens of villages were destroyed. Nearly 15,000 houses were destroyed primarily due to the landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
s triggered by the quake. Approximately 10,000 people were injured and 6,725 livestock were killed in the earthquake.
Relief efforts
The Takhar Province was a remote area and road transportRoad transport
Road transport or road transportation is transport on roads of passengers or goods. A hybrid of road transport and ship transport is the historic horse-drawn boat.-History:...
and telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
was poor. So it took three days for the news of the earthquake to reach Kabul. On February 7, reports of the quake began to reach the capital city. But relief work was hampered and delayed because of bad weather like fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
, low cloud and snowfalls, blocked mountain tracks (due to snowfall and landslide) and the civil war. Reports indicated that survivors were living without shelter in subzero temperature and many were starving. Several villagers were making their way down the mountain tracks along with their herds of goats.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
sent a team from Dushanbe
Dushanbe
-Economy:Coal, lead, and arsenic are mined nearby in the cities of Nurek and Kulob allowing for the industrialization of Dushanbe. The Nurek Dam, the world's highest as of 2008, generates 95% of Tajikistan's electricity, and another dam, the Roghun Dam, is planned on the Vakhsh River...
to the affected region for relief efforts. The first international relief team reached the affected area on February 7 and the first United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
(UN) team arrived there on February 10. A convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
(ICRC) reached the site on February 14 with 4,800 blankets, 800 quilt
Quilt
A quilt is a type of bed cover, traditionally composed of three layers of fiber: a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding and a woven back, combined using the technique of quilting. “Quilting” refers to the technique of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches or ties...
s, 10 rolls of plastic sheeting and approximately 200 tents. Eleven days after the event, on February 16, helicopters were able to drop supplies to three isolated villages. The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU) offered £1.3m of relief aid including blankets, medical equipment, water and tents. The Taliban ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan offered 100 tonnes each of rice and wheat, and approximately £40,000 to the affected region.