Skip linksSkip to Content
play
Live
Navigation menu
  • News
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Middle East
  • Explained
  • Opinion
  • Sport
  • Video
    • Features
    • Economy
    • Human Rights
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Podcasts
    • Travel
play
Live

In Pictures

News|Earthquakes

Afghans grieve as scramble for earthquake survivors continues

Saturday’s magnitude 6.3 quake killed and injured thousands when it levelled an untold number of homes in Herat province.

An Afghan boy mourns next to the grave of his little brother who died due to an earthquake, in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
An Afghan boy mourns next to the grave of his little brother following a devastating earthquake in western Afghanistan. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Published On 10 Oct 202310 Oct 2023
facebooktwitterwhatsappcopylink

People dug through the rubble of the quake in western Afghanistan for their few possessions but the material losses seemed unimportant.

Saturday’s 6.3 magnitude 6.3 quake killed and injured thousands when it levelled an untold number of homes in Herat province. Picking through the rubble on Monday, Asadullah Khan paused to think about a future marred by grief.

Khan lost three daughters, his mother and his sister-in-law. Five members of his uncle’s family have died. His neighbours are grief-stricken, too.

“We have lost 23 people in this village,” Khan said.

The Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdul Ghani Baradar, and his team visited the quake-affected region on Monday to deliver “immediate relief assistance” and ensure “equitable and accurate distribution of aid,” authorities said.

Top United Nations officials also went to Zinda Jan to assess the extent of the damage.

In neighbouring Pakistan, the government held a special session to review aid for Afghanistan, including relief teams.

Afghanistan has few reliable statistics but a spokesman for Afghanistan’s national disaster authority, Janan Sayiq, told reporters in Kabul that about 4,000 people were killed or injured by the disaster.

He did not provide a breakdown, but the UN estimates that 1,023 people were killed and 1,663 people injured in 11 villages in Zinda Jan alone.

Nearly 2,000 houses in 20 villages were destroyed, according to the Taliban.

The area hit by the quake has just one government-run hospital.

Advertisement

The epicentre was about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, the provincial capital, the US Geological Survey said.

Several of the aftershocks have been strong, including one on Monday that again caused residents of the city to rush out of their homes.

More than 35 teams from the military and nonprofit groups are involved in rescue efforts, said Sayiq, the disaster authority spokesperson.

The fast-approaching winter, combined with the new disaster, is likely to exacerbate Afghanistan’s existing challenges and make it even harder for people to meet their basic needs, like adequate shelter, food and medicine, aid groups warn.

Vital infrastructure including bridges was destroyed and emergency response teams have been deployed to provide humanitarian assistance, the International Rescue Committee said.

Afghans are still reeling from recent natural disasters.

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake in March struck much of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and an earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan in June 2022, flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people.

Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, of western Afghanistan, October 9, 2023
Afghan men search for victims after Afghanistan's deadliest earthquake in two decades. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Advertisement
Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake at a burial site, outside a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Volunteers and rescue workers in quake-hit Afghanistan say they have been forced to use shovels and even their bare hands to look for survivors. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, of western Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Rescuers have scaled back operations in Afghanistan's devastated northwest as chances of finding survivors diminish, with some turning to digging graves instead. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
A dog waits for its owners in the area of a house that was destroyed by an earthquake and all the people of that house were killed and does not leave there in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. It's one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A dog waits for its owners in the vicinity of a house that was destroyed by the earthquake, killing all of its inhabitants. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake to a burial site, outside a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Afghans bury hundreds of earthquake victims outside a village in Zinda Jan district. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake to a burial site, outside a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
White-shrouded bodies were laid in rows as mass funeral ceremonies were held for more than 300 earthquake victims. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Advertisement
Afghan people carry the body of a relative killed in an earthquake at a burial site after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
At least 13 villages in the Zinda Jan district were seriously affected by the earthquake. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
An Afghan man buries his little grandson who was killed by the earthquake, in a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
An Afghan man buries his grandson following the magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Saturday. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake to a burial site, outside a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Most of the casualties of Saturday's earthquake were women and children, according to the World Health Organization. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
An Afghan man sits next to the body of his relative who was killed by the earthquake, at a burial site in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Rescue workers are pleading for immediate aid and assistance, especially for the many children who were orphaned or separated from their families by the earthquake. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]
An Afghan man rests his head on the grave of his wife who died due to an earthquake and talks to her at a burial site, in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, western of Afghanistan, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Saturday's deadly earthquake killed and injured thousands when it leveled an untold number of homes in Herat province. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
An Afghan man rests his head on the grave of his wife in Herat province. [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo]


  • About

    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Work for us
  • Connect

    • Contact Us
    • User Accounts Help
    • Advertise with us
    • Stay Connected
    • Newsletters
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
  • Our Channels

    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
  • Our Network

    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • rss
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network