At least 900 people died and hundreds were injured after a strong earthquake shook eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday.

The earthquake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, occurred in a remote area of ​​the country, near the border with Pakistan, where the population lives in very precarious conditions.

“So far, according to the information we have, at least 920 people have died and 600 have been injured,” Deputy Minister for Natural Disasters Sharafuddin Muslim told a news conference.

The balance of the tragedy was rising with the passing of the minutes and the country’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, warned that the figures could be even higher.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km, around 01:30 on Wednesday, in an area of ​​difficult access to the east of the country, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which added that a second tremor of magnitude 4 .5 shook almost the same place at the same time.

“We call on aid agencies to provide immediate assistance to earthquake victims to prevent a humanitarian disaster,” deputy government spokesman Bilal Karimi urged on Twitter.

Earthquakes are frequent in Afghanistan, especially in the Hindu Kush massif, straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is located at the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

These catastrophes can be especially devastating, given the precariousness of Afghan housing.

In October 2015, a powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake shook the Hindu Kush mountains, causing a total of more than 380 deaths in the two countries.

Since the Taliban came to power in August, Afghanistan has been going through a serious financial and humanitarian crisis, caused by the blockade of millions of assets abroad and the suspension of international aid, which had sustained the country for two decades and which now It arrives with dropper.