Emergency Assistance to Afghanistan for Earthquake Disaster

March 29, 2002

On March 29, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency assistance comprising sleeping mats and plastic sheeting, equivalent to approximately 26 million yen, to the Afghanistan Interim Administration, which has sustained great damage from the earthquake.
A strong earthquake hit Nahrin in Afghanistan's Baghlan Province on the night of March 25, causing as much as 90% of the buildings of the area to collapse and leaving several thousands of people killed or injured. The Administration, whose survey team is currently to confirming the damage in detail, has requested emergency assistance to the international community including Japan. Japan has recently dispatched officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) to the quake-hit area to coordinate relief activities and assess what assistance is needed there.
The Government of Japan has decided to extend this emergency assistance from a humanitarian point of view, in light of the seriousness of the disaster and close relations between Japan and the Afghanistan Interim Administration.

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