Printed On 6 Sep 2025
Within the mountains of southeast Afghanistan, entire villages have been decreased to piles of stone and dust.
Almost one week after a devastating earthquake struck Kunar province, residents are mourning their households and determining how they will probably survive, having misplaced all the pieces.
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A magnitude 6.0 tremor struck the distant mountainous area final weekend, killing greater than 2,200 individuals.
“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, sturdy aftershocks had been reported on Friday, injuring not less than 10, and elevating fears of extra demise 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 dwelling when, at midnight, the earthquake struck. All the homes collapsed and everybody was screaming,” he instructed Al Jazeera, sitting on the ruins of his dwelling, with a number of baggage of no matter belongings he might get well.
“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 individuals to despair,” he added.
Nearly all of victims are from Kunar province, the place most individuals stay in wooden and mud-brick properties constructed alongside steep river valleys surrounded by towering mountains.
The World Well being Group (WHO) stated as of September 3, not less than 6,700 properties have been destroyed.
Rahim instructed Al Jazeera he was now dwelling in a tent, and was apprehensive about winter approaching as the realm receives “heavy snowfall”.
“What we want most are correct properties to outlive the chilly,” he stated. “I name on the entire world, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to assist us. Now we have misplaced all the pieces, even our livestock and chickens. Nothing stays.”
Rescue efforts proceed
Treacherous roads, relentless aftershocks and restricted support imply many communities stay minimize 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 staff had been “working across the clock” looking for survivors, hope was fading, Hashem stated. “The official demise toll isn’t closing, with so many nonetheless lacking, the quantity will most definitely rise,” he famous.
WHO has stated landslides and blocked roads have obstructed reduction 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 instructed Al Jazeera.
Afghanistan is susceptible 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 12 months earlier, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck the jap provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost, and Nangarhar, killing about 1,000 individuals.
