KASHKAK, Afghanistan: In the wake of a series of devastating earthquakes that have claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people, Afghan villagers and volunteers have rallied to help in the search for survivors. The earthquakes, which included a magnitude 6.3 quake and eight powerful aftershocks, struck the province of Herat, located 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of Herat city, the provincial capital.
Volunteers arrived in trucks laden with essential supplies such as food, tents, and blankets, determined to reach remote and hard-to-access areas affected by the disaster. Armed with shovels, they joined forces to sift through the debris of collapsed villages, their hope diminishing as time passed.
Khalid, a 32-year-old volunteer from Zenda Jan district, described the scene, saying, “Many people have come from far-flung districts to get people out from the rubble. Everyone is busy searching for bodies everywhere, we don’t know if there are others as well under the debris.”
Despite conflicting reports from local and national officials, Afghanistan’s disaster agency confirmed that 2,053 people had lost their lives, with the World Health Organization indicating that over 11,000 individuals from 1,655 families were affected.
As winter approaches, the Taliban government faces a monumental challenge in providing shelter to the survivors, given its strained relationship with international aid organizations. The ban on women working for UN and non-governmental organizations in the country has made assessing family needs in conservative areas particularly challenging.
Save the Children has described the earthquake as “a crisis on top of a crisis,” emphasizing the scale of the devastation and the alarming number of people affected. In Sarboland village, homes lay in ruins, with displaced women and children seeking refuge in the open.
The vulnerability of rural Afghan homes, primarily constructed of mud and wooden support poles with minimal modern reinforcement, makes communities susceptible to disasters like the recent earthquake. Adding to the tragedy is the ongoing humanitarian crisis stemming from the withdrawal of foreign aid following the Taliban’s return to power.
Herat province, bordering Iran and home to approximately 1.9 million people, has also been grappling with a prolonged drought that has inflicted further hardship on impoverished farming communities.
Afghanistan, situated near the intersection of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, frequently experiences earthquakes, with the Hindu Kush Mountain range being a particularly vulnerable region. The earthquake last June in the province of Paktika claimed over 1,000 lives and left tens of thousands homeless, highlighting the recurring seismic risks faced by the country.
