Printed On 6 Sep 2025
Within the mountains of southeast Afghanistan, entire villages have been decreased to piles of stone and dirt.
Practically one week after a devastating earthquake struck Kunar province, residents are mourning their households and determining how they’ll probably survive, having misplaced every little thing.
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A magnitude 6.0 tremor struck the distant mountainous area final weekend, killing greater than 2,200 folks.
“The victims face solely two decisions, to depart, or die,” Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem reported from Kunar province, the epicentre of the quake.
Following the earthquake, robust aftershocks had been reported on Friday, injuring a minimum of 10, and elevating fears of extra loss of life and destruction.
Survivor Gul Rahim from Kunar province misplaced 63 members of his household within the quake, together with his five-year-old daughter Fatima.
“We had been asleep at residence when, at midnight, the earthquake struck. All the homes collapsed and everybody was screaming,” he informed Al Jazeera, sitting on the ruins of his residence, with a number of luggage of no matter belongings he may recuperate.
“I managed to get out, however my youngest daughter was trapped inside, crying, ‘Father, get me out of right here!” By the point we reached her, she had handed away,” he stated, his voice trembling with grief.
“She was my youngest and most beloved daughter.”
Rahim stated one other 100 or so of his neighbours had been killed within the quake.
“The lifeless and injured had been numerous. The earthquake was terrifying, and leads folks to despair,” he added.
The vast majority of victims are from Kunar province, the place most individuals dwell in wooden and mud-brick houses constructed alongside steep river valleys surrounded by towering mountains.
The World Well being Group (WHO) stated as of September 3, a minimum of 6,700 houses have been destroyed.
Rahim informed Al Jazeera he was now dwelling in a tent, and was nervous about winter approaching as the world receives “heavy snowfall”.
“What we want most are correct houses to outlive the chilly,” he stated. “I name on the entire world, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to assist us. Now we have misplaced every little thing, even our livestock and chickens. Nothing stays.”
Rescue efforts proceed
Treacherous roads, relentless aftershocks and restricted support imply many communities stay lower off.
“Getting right here was a harrowing expertise,” recounted Al Jazeera’s Hashem. “We had been driving for hours on winding cliffside roads, with aftershocks shaking the bottom beneath us till we lastly made it.
Whereas rescue employees had been “working across the clock” in the hunt for survivors, hope was fading, Hashem stated. “The official loss of life toll isn’t last, with so many nonetheless lacking, the quantity will most definitely rise,” he famous.
WHO has stated landslides and blocked roads have obstructed aid work. The organisation has appealed for $4m in funds to offer “life-saving well being interventions” coupled with supporting “water, sanitation, and hygiene actions” for residents.
“They want meals help, security, and drugs for the youngsters,” volunteer Abdulrahman Sharafat informed Al Jazeera.
Afghanistan is vulnerable to highly effective earthquakes as a result of it sits the place the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. In October 2023, the western province of Herat skilled a magnitude 6.0 earthquake, leading to greater than 2,000 deaths.
A yr earlier, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck the jap provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost, and Nangarhar, killing about 1,000 folks.
