6.3 magnitude earthquake shakes part of western Afghanistan where earlier quake killed over 2,000
Chahak (AP): Another strong earthquake shook part of western Afghanistan on Wednesday morning after an earlier quake killed more than 2,000 and flattened whole villages.
The latest magnitude 6.3 earthquake was about 28 kilometres outside Herat, the capital of Herat province, and 10 kilometres deep, according to the US Geological Survey.
Wednesday's quake has injured at least 80 people and a landslide has blocked the main Herat-Torghondi highway, Information Ministry spokesman Abdul Wahid Rayan said.
It also flattened all 700 homes in Chahak village, which was untouched by the tremors of previous days. There are mounds of soil where dwellings used to be. But there were no deaths initially reported in Chahak because people have taken shelter in tents this week, fearing for their lives as tremors continue to rock Herat.
The epicentre of Saturday's quake was about 40 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital, and several aftershocks have been strong, including another of magnitude 6.3 on Saturday.
Taliban officials said more than 2,000 had died across Herat after the earlier quakes. They subsequently said the quakes killed and injured thousands but didn't give a breakdown of casualties.
Besides rubble and funerals after Saturday's devastation, there is little left of the villages in the region's dusty hills.
In Naib Rafi, a village that previously had about 2,500 residents, people said almost no one was still alive besides men who were working outside when the quake struck. Survivors worked all day with excavators to dig long trenches for mass burials.
On a barren field in the district of Zinda Jan, a bulldozer removed mounds of earth to clear space for a long row of graves.
"It is very difficult to find a family member from a destroyed house and a few minutes to later bury him or her in a nearby grave, again under the ground," said Mir Agha, from the city of Herat, who had joined hundreds of volunteers to help the locals.
Nearly 2,000 houses in 20 villages were destroyed, the Taliban have said. The area hit by the quakes has just one government-run hospital.
On Tuesday, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Zinda Jan was the worst-affected area, with more than 1,300 people killed and nearly 500 people still reported missing.
He said UN satellite imagery also indicated extreme levels of destruction in the district of Injil.
"Our humanitarian colleagues warn that children are particularly vulnerable and have suffered severe psychological distress from the earthquake," he said.
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Assam's Byrnihat tops global pollution list; Delhi most polluted capital: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Thirteen of the world's top 20 most polluted cities are in India, with Byrnihat in Assam topping the list, according to a new report published on Tuesday.
The World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir said Delhi remains the most polluted capital city globally, while India ranked as the world's fifth most polluted country in 2024, down from third in 2023.
The report said India saw a 7 percent decline in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, averaging 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, compared to 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023. Yet, 13 of the world's 20 most polluted cities are in India.
Air pollution in Delhi worsened, with the annual average PM2.5 concentration rising from 102.4 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023 to 108.3 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024.
The Indian cities in the world's top 20 most polluted cities are Byrnihat, Delhi, Punjab's Mullanpur, Faridabad, Loni, Gurugram, Ganganagar, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Muzaffarnagar, Hanumangarh and Noida.
Overall, 35 percent of the Indian cities reported annual PM2.5 levels exceeding 10 times the WHO limit of 5 micrograms per cubic metre, the report said.
The high level of pollution in Byrnihat, a town on the border of Assam and Meghalaya, is due to emissions from local factories, including distilleries, iron and steel plants.
Delhi grapples with high air pollution year-round and the problem worsens in winter when unfavourable meteorological conditions, combined with vehicular emissions, paddy-straw burning, firecrackers and other local pollution sources, make the air quality hazardous.
Air pollution remains a serious health risk in India, reducing life expectancy by an estimated 5.2 years.
According to a Lancet Planetary Health study published last year, about 1.5 million deaths in India every year from 2009 to 2019 were potentially linked to long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution.
PM2.5 refers to tiny air pollution particles smaller than 2.5 microns, which can enter the lungs and bloodstream, leading to breathing problems, heart disease and even cancer. Sources include vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and the burning of wood or crop waste.
Former WHO chief scientist and health ministry advisor Soumya Swaminathan said India has made progress in air quality data collection but lacks sufficient action.
"We have the data; now we need action. Some solutions are easy like replacing biomass with LPG. India already has a scheme for this, but we must further subsidise additional cylinders. The first cylinder is free, but the poorest families, especially women, should receive higher subsidies. This will improve their health and reduce outdoor air pollution," she told PTI in an interview.
In cities, expanding public transport and imposing fines on certain cars could help. "A mix of incentives and penalties is necessary," she said.
"Finally, strict enforcement of emission laws is crucial. Industries and construction sites must comply with regulations and install equipment to cut emissions instead of taking shortcuts," the former director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research added.
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