Death toll rises in Afghanistan earthquake

The earthquake is the country’s deadliest in two decades. The death toll has already exceeded 1,000 lives, and 1,500 more are injured. The tremors registered at 6.1 — a magnitude that in other parts of the world wouldn’t cause nearly as much destruction. Such tremors devastate areas like the eastern mountains of Afghanistan, where most houses and structures are poorly constructed and clumped together, and where landslides are common.

Are the Taliban equipped to respond? Rescuers rushed to the area in helicopters, but their response will likely remain handicapped by the fact that most aid agencies left the country after the Islamist group took power last year.  The country’s own health system has also deteriorated since then. The probable destruction of many mountain roads leading to the area only makes it more difficult.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s discussion with Bill Roggio on The World and Everything in It podcast about what went wrong in Afghanistan with the U.S. military withdrawal.