- UN Humanitarian Affairs office head in Afghanistan tells Anadolu that situation 'is very difficult' for assessment and rescue teams to reach some of the most remote villages
- Entire villages in some areas of worst-hit eastern Kunar province wiped out and no one from those families survived
ISLAMABD
Following a devastating magnitude 6.0 earthquake that hit eastern Afghanistan late Sunday, rescue and relief efforts are being hampered by aftershocks, blocked roads and the sheer scale of destruction, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
In an interview with Anadolu, Amy Martin, OCHA’s head of office for Afghanistan, said Kunar province has been particularly devastated, with entire villages destroyed.
"It’s a very mountainous area, very rural, very small communities. Most of the structures were made of mud and stone and could not withstand a shallow quake of this magnitude," she said.
The earthquake hit at least four eastern provinces including Nangarhar, Laghman and Panjshir, and Kunar -- the most affected region which reported almost all of the deaths reported.
Martin described the unfolding crisis as both devastating and urgent and said currently the situation "is very difficult" for assessment and rescue teams to reach some of the most remote villages.
"Teams are out for assessing the affected communities and the damage in Kunar province. It is particularly hard hit, as well as some of the smaller districts within Kunar. But we’re also experiencing aftershocks, which are causing landslides and rockslides that block access roads," Martin said.
According to an Afghan Red Crescent, the death toll in Kunar province, epicenter of the earthquake, has climbed to at least 2,205 with 3,640 injured.
At least 12 deaths have already been reported in Nangarhar province and overall injured in all provinces has surpassed 4,000. Over 8,000 houses have been destroyed, the Afghan Red Crescent said.
Martin cautioned that access challenges mean new figures for casualties and damage are arriving slowly and they anticipate that those numbers will rise as teams reach cut-off communities.
The US Geological Survey recorded the quake at 11.47 pm local time (1917GMT) Sunday, when most residents were asleep, 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) east-northeast of Jalalabad at a depth of 8 kilometers (5 miles).
It was the third major earthquake to hit the war-torn nation since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
In June 2022, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake in the eastern provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost and Nangarhar killed at least 1,036 people and caused thousands of homes to collapse.
In October 2023, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in Herat province killed more than 2,000 people and injured over 9,000. The quake was the country’s deadliest in years.
Rescue, relief efforts
Despite a difficult situation, search and rescue teams arrived in the most affected areas, with heavy equipment and even helicopters being deployed to reach remote areas as many people are still trapped under the rubble.
Relief efforts include mobile health teams, food supplies, tents and water and sanitation support. However, as the winter is approaching, OCHA is prioritizing non-food items like blankets and tarpaulins.
Hundreds of animals also perished in the quake and health experts have warned of waterborne diseases in the region.
"We’re very mindful of the risks of waterborne diseases, and measures are being taken to safely dispose of livestock killed in the quake to prevent contamination," Martin said.
Afghanistan's Taliban-led interim administration, with the support of UN agencies, has established tent villages to provide shelter to thousands of displaced people with thousands of houses partially and completely damaged.
Türkiye this week dispatched 25 tons of aid to the country, including badly needed shelter materials, hygiene kits and food boxes.
Neighboring Pakistan, Iran, China and India as well as Western nations have pledged to send aid.
Why was the quake so devastating?
The earthquake, measured at magnitude 6.0, struck at a shallow depth of just 8-10 kilometers (5-6 miles). The quake caused a huge amount of damage in eastern provinces of Afghanistan and was also felt across the border in Pakistan.
"The shallowness of the quake was a major factor. Combine that with the fact that rural homes here are not built to withstand such shocks, and the result is catastrophic," said Martin, the UN official.
Local residents in Kunar told Anadolu that several villages in the affected areas have been reduced to ruins.
"I went to some villages for rescue efforts and witnessed a very painful situation, as some houses were completely wiped out and no one from those families survived,” said one resident Abdul Wahid.
He added that most residents are very poor and had built their houses from mud.
A day earlier, a local administration official said authorities had planned to relocate people from the affected areas to safer locations, but residents refused to leave.
And the interim administration then decided to set up tent villages for them within their own communities.
Rebuilding houses and infrastructure
Responding to a UN plan to help the affected people rebuild their houses and infrastructure in the region, Martin said that next week they plan to launch a flash appeal once the complete data is collected from the region.
"People will only want to stay in temporary shelters for as short a time as possible. They want to return to their crops and livelihoods," she said. "We will support community by community, but ultimately people must decide where and how they rebuild."