Afghanistan: Earthquake - Feb 1999

On 11 February 1999, an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale struck Wardak and Logar provinces, south of Kabul, damaging rural homes and infrastructure over a wide area. The affected districts in Wardak include Maidan Shar, Nirkh, Sayedabad, while those in Logar are Baraki Barak, Pul-e-Alam and Mohammad Agha. The estimated population of both provinces is 400,000 people. (OCHA, 25 Feb 1999)

It was difficult to assess the extent of the damage immediately, given the dispersed nature of the settlements and the adverse weather conditions. Fortunately, initial earth tremors preceded the main earthquake, alerting families to quickly vacate their homes. As a result, casualties were limited to approximately 70 dead and 500 injured. Some 18,600 families have been affected by the earthquake, of which 6,255 households are in Category A (more than 80 percent destroyed) and 12,037 in Category B (between 50 and 80 percent destroyed). As elsewhere in Afghanistan, traditional massive buildings proved vulnerable to seismic movement, although the extent of destruction varied widely within the affected area. Levels of damage in Wardak were generally higher than in Logar province. (OCHA, 25 Feb 1999)