Afghanistan earthquake: More than 1,000 dead as villagers dig for survivors

A door is all that remains of a building in Herat after the massive earthquake, leaving the city and the houses in ruins.

Yogita Limaye, Joel Guinto, and Derek Cai

in Mumbai and Singapore

Firefighters are searching for the victims of a severe earthquake that destroyed entire villages in Afghanistan and claimed the lives of more than 1, 000 people.

In Herat territory, a desolate region dotted with mud-brick homes, the 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday morning.

More than 500 people are also looking for the missing using shovels and their bare hands, according to the UN.

Only on Monday did assist begin to flow in, delayed by blocked routes and downed conversation lines.

According to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs( OCA ),” 100 % of homes are estimated to have been completely destroyed” in the rural area of Zinda Jan, which is about 40 kilometers from Herat City.

Pictures taken from the villages show completely destroyed homes that couldn’t resist such a earthquake.

” When we got back, we noticed that nothing was left. Nek Mohammad, a native, told AFP that everything had turned to clay. He continued,” We started to dig with spades and whatever we had to save women and children from the dust.”

At first, it was difficult for the Taliban government and support organizations to determine the death toll or how many people were still missing. Officials probably didn’t have people records for like isolated villages. It is challenging for the regional administration to determine how many people have been residing in the area because it is also home to areas displaced by conflict and drought.

Cracked walls and a gaping hole in the ceiling of a house in Herat after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the city.

The injured, who presently number more than 1, 600, have been difficult for poorly equipped hospitals to treat. Teams from the health nonprofit Médecins Sans Frontières( MSF) have been at the Herat Regional Hospital since Saturday, where many of them were transported.

Prue Coakley, the acting state representative for MSF in Afghanistan, says,” Luckily, most of the people arriving are non-emergency circumstances.” Many of them are still in the hospital while officials look for other places for them to be because they do not have properties to return to.

She continued by saying that in addition to the common patients who require medical attention, the hospital is filled. She claimed that because the majority of earthquake survivors receiving treatment are women and children, a group focusing on pediatric patients was being sent to the doctor in Herat. According to physicians, women and children even account for a large portion of the deceased.

According to the Taliban authorities, earthquake victims urgently require food, water, medicine, clothing, and tents for protection. The Afghan Red Cross Society, MSF, World Food Program, and UNICEF are just a few of the support organizations that have sent assistance. However, the organizations claim that the cash-strapped nation requires more assistance.

Since the Taliban took over in 2021, when support to the authorities was halted, Afghanistan has been suffering from an economic issue.

Some nations have made financial commitments since Saturday’s earthquake. According to Chinese media, the Red Cross Society of China has provided emergency cash assistance totaling$ 200,000 (£ 164, 220 ).

Pakistan, a neighbor, has stated that it has spoken with Afghan officials and did” expand all possible support to the recovery work.”

Since the Hindu Kush mountain range is close to the confluence of the Asian and Indian geological plates, Afghanistan experiences frequent earthquakes.

A 5.9 scale earthquake struck the state of Paktika in June of last year, killing more than 1, 000 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless.