On Wednesday, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck west Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of life and terrorizing locals who were already traumatized by a sequence of aftershocks that claimed the lives of approximately 2,000 individuals over the weekend.

Approximately thirty kilometers (19 miles) to the north of the provincial capital of Herat, where thousands were spending their fourth night in the open after their villages were destroyed by the tremors on Saturday, the dawn quake struck.

Abdul Qudos, 32, exclaimed, “It’s abhorrent; the entire province of Herat is in terror.”

“We are so scared that even when we see the trees moving (in the wind), we think it’s another earthquake coming.”

The most recent earthquake caused at least one fatality and one hundred twenty-five injuries, according to Abdul Zahir Noorzai, ambulance superintendent for Herat Regional Hospital.

“People in these (rural) areas were residing outside their already-destroyed homes when they were struck by newly falling debris from unstable ruins,” he told AFP.

The earthquake was followed by aftershocks with magnitudes of 5.0 and 4.1, but according to an AFP reporter, the devastation to the city of Herat, which is home to over 500,000 people, was minimal.
Numerous inhabitants have taken to tents, automobiles, and gardens as temporary shelters since the magnitude 6.3 earthquake and subsequent series of intense aftershocks on Saturday.

“Because our children are so terrified, they remain awake until morning.” “They are not sleeping,” Aziz Ahmad, age 40, stated.

In the outdoor courtyard of Herat Regional Hospital, patients were receiving medical care. Wednesday morning ambulances arrived, but the majority of injuries appeared to be minor.

Although deadly earthquakes are a common occurrence in Afghanistan, the catastrophe that struck over the weekend was the most severe to impact the war-ravaged nation in over 25 years.

Casualties in a state of upheaval

According to the United Nations, volunteers have been excavating for survivors and corpses from earlier earthquakes that devastated at least six villages in the rural district of Zenda Jan and impacted over 12,000 people.

Officials at the local and national levels have provided contradictory tonnages for fatalities and injuries; however, the disaster ministry has confirmed 2,053 fatalities.

“We cannot provide exact figures for the number of fatalities and injuries at this time due to the fluid situation,” said Mullah Janan Sayeq, a spokesman for the ministry of disaster management.

The provision of extensive shelter will present a formidable task for the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, which have strained relations with international assistance organizations and seized power in August 2021.

“There is not a single house left, not even a room where we could spend the night,” said Mohammad Naeem, 40. He told AFP that twelve of his relatives, including his mother, perished in the earthquakes on Saturday.

“We can no longer reside in this location. Evidently, our family was martyred in this location. “How were we able to survive here?”

The majority of dwellings in rural Afghanistan are constructed with mud and wooden support pillars, with little reinforcement in the form of steel or concrete.

Due to the fact that multigenerational extended families typically reside in close proximity, communities can be severely devastated by severe earthquakes.

Afghanistan is presently confronted with an acute humanitarian crisis due to the extensive cessation of foreign assistance subsequent to the Taliban’s resurgence.

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Herat province, situated on the Iranian frontier, is home to approximately 1.9 million inhabitants; for years, a severe drought has plagued its rural communities.