Magnitude 6.3 Powerful Earthquake Kills Over 2,000 in Afghanistan
- AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi.
Afghanistan – Two magnitude 6.3 powerful earthquakes followed by several strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan on Saturday killed more than 2,000 people and injured over thousands more, according to Taliban disaster management officials.
"2445 people, including women and children, were killed and 2440 people including women and children are wounded" Mullah Janan Saiq a spokesman for the state Ministry for Disaster Management told CBS News.
He said the death toll is still on the rise and nearly 10,000 lived in the villages affected by the earthquakes.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the epicenters of the quakes were in the Zindajan district, which is located about 40 kilometers west of Herat city, the country's economic and cultural hub in western Afghanistan bordering Iran. The quakes were also felt in neighboring Badghis and Farah provinces.
"Initial assessment indicates that as many as 100 people have been killed across eight villages in Zindajan district, Herat province," the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.
"Mahal Wadakah is understood to be the worst affected village,”
Rentetan gempa besar yang melanda Afganistan pada Sabtu menewaskan lebih dari 2.000 orang dan melukai lebih dari 9.000 orang.
- AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi.
"In total, 4,200 people are assessed to have been affected. Four hundred and sixty-five houses are reported to have been destroyed and 135 damaged. The figure could go much higher, the UN and local officials warned," The UN explained.
The earthquake happened as Afghanistan is in the worst humanitarian crisis with economic sanctions from the Western countries after the country fell to the Taliban two years ago.
Humanitarian organizations were forced to cut aid to millions of people due to funding shortfalls, and, "due to a funding crisis," the World Food Programme was forced to cut 10 million people off life-saving food assistance in Afghanistan this year.
In August, the Red Cross ended funding for 25 hospitals in Afghanistan, including Herat Regional Hospital, due to funding shortages.
Videos shared on social media show villages once full of mud houses that used to dot the landscape have been reduced to piles of earthy rubbles.
Rentetan gempa besar yang melanda Afganistan pada Sabtu menewaskan lebih dari 2.000 orang dan melukai lebih dari 9.000 orang.
- AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi.
The force of the earthquake caused mud walls and ceilings to crumble, trapping women and children under the debris and responders digging layers of collapsed clays, hoping to rescue people still alive.
"Fourteen members of my family are trapped under this debris," says one man in a video shared on social media. He stands solitary among chaos and destruction and screams with the unbearable burden of losing the pillar of his existence.
"My 5-year-old is under these debris," he said.
In another video shared to social media, a man pleaded for help and showed an entire village that was destroyed with no sign of rescue operation.
"There are people trapped under these debris" he said, "pick up your shovels and rush." He said the village is near to the city and accessible by road.
The rescue operation was underway overnight, as some shoveled and others dug with bare hands to discover and pull out the bodies of their loved ones from under the debris.
The UN said an estimated 2,100 people, including children and women, have been displaced to Herat city and took shelter in abandoned buildings.
