Push Admin

Death toll from 'unprecedented' Afghan quakes doubles to 2,000

Article (news)

Mohsen Karimi, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="An Afghani refugee inspects the scene after Pakistani authorities demolished an Afghan refugees camp on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, 07 October 2023. Afghan refugees in Pakistan are gripped by panic as the government" s="" deadline="" for="" their="" departure="" from="" the="" country="" leading="" many="" to="" wind="" up="" businesses="" and="" sell="" household.="" Pakistani="" government="" ordered="" all="" including="" million="" Afghans="" living="" leave="" by="" end="" of="" month="" or="" face="" expulsion.="" EPA-EFE="" SOHAIL="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/10/08/20231008-afghani-refugee-epa-efe.jpg"/><figcaption>An Afghani refugee inspects the scene after Pakistani authorities demolished an Afghan refugees camp on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, 07 October 2023. Afghan refugees in Pakistan are gripped by panic as the government&#x27;s deadline for their departure from the country approaches, leading many to wind up their businesses and sell their household. Pakistani government ordered all immigrants, including 1.73 million Afghans living illegally, to leave the country by the end of the month or face expulsion. <em>EPA-EFE/SOHAIL SHAHZAD</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>HERAT, Afghanista<strong>n (2nd UPDATE)</strong> -- The death toll from a series of earthquakes in western Afghanistan rose sharply on Sunday to more than 2,000, the Taliban government said, as bodies continued to be pulled from demolished villages and buried in mass graves.</p><p>More than 1,300 homes were toppled when Saturday&#x27;s magnitude 6.3 quake -- followed by eight strong aftershocks -- jolted hard-to-reach areas 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of the provincial capital of Herat, according to officials.</p><p>In the rural Zinda Jan district, village households were reduced to jumbles of broken masonry, where makeshift rescue teams continued to dig frantic trenches on Sunday.</p><p>Aid gradually trickled into the disaster zone including food, water, tents and coffins for the dead who were pulled from the rubble by excavators and men with pickaxes and shovels.</p><p>Some of the bodies were shrouded in fleece blankets, as workers used those same tools to excavate their communal graves in the gravelly brown earth.</p><p>Disaster management ministry spokesman Mullah Janan Sayeq said the nation &quot;witnessed an unprecedented earthquake&quot;, putting the number of dead at 2,053 across 13 villages around midday Sunday.</p><p>&quot;For the treatment of the victims of the incident we are doing our best,&quot; he told reporters in Kabul. &quot;On-site search operations in the affected area are ongoing.&quot;</p><p>He also gave a figure of more than 9,000 injured but later retracted that, saying it referred to the number of residents in the affected area.</p><p>One further aftershock of magnitude 4.2 hit the same area around 7:00 am (0230 GMT) on Sunday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/07/23/magnitude-63-earthquake-jolts-western-afghanistan-usgs">Magnitude 6.3 earthquake jolts western Afghanistan: USGS</a></li></ul><div><strong>- &#x27;Everything turned to sand&#x27; -</strong></div><p>In the Sarboland village of Zinda Jan district, an AFP reporter saw homes ruined near the epicenter of the quakes, which shook the area for more than five hours.</p><p>Gutted homes showed personal belongings flapping in the harsh wind, as women and children lingered out in the open.</p><p>&quot;In the very first shake all the houses collapsed,&quot; said 42-year-old Bashir Ahmad.</p><p>&quot;Those who were inside the houses were buried,&quot; he said. &quot;There are families we have heard no news from.&quot;</p><p>Nek Mohammad told AFP he was at work when the first quake struck at around 11:00 am (0630 GMT).</p><p>&quot;We came home and saw that actually there was nothing left. Everything had turned to sand,&quot; said the 32-year-old, adding that around 30 bodies had been recovered.</p><p>&quot;So far, we have nothing. No blankets or anything else. We are here left out at night with our martyrs,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>- Casualties set to rise -</strong></div><p>Most rural homes in Afghanistan are made of sun-fired mud bricks built around wooden support poles, with little in the way of modern steel reinforcement.</p><p>Multi-generational extended families generally live under the same roof, meaning disasters like Saturday&#x27;s quake can devastate local communities.</p><p>In Herat city, residents fled their homes and schools, while hospitals and offices evacuated when the first quake was felt. There were few reports of casualties in the metropolitan area.</p><p>Afghanistan is already suffering a dire humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid following the Taliban&#x27;s return to power in 2021.</p><p>Save the Children called the quake &quot;a crisis on top of a crisis&quot;.</p><p>&quot;The scale of the damage is horrific. The numbers affected by this tragedy are truly disturbing,&quot; said country director Arshad Malik.</p><p>Herat province -- home to around 1.9 million people on the border with Iran -- has also been hit by a years-long drought that has crippled many hardscrabble agricultural communities.</p><p>Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.</p><p>More than 1,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless in June last year after a 5.9-magnitude quake struck the impoverished province of Paktika.</p><p>&quot;The Herat earthquake is worse than the eastern earthquake that happened last year,&quot; said disaster agency spokesman Janan.</p><p>&quot;Not only by the magnitude and depth, but also more areas are affected and destroyed.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong><br/> </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2798920" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

The death toll from a series of earthquakes in western Afghanistan rose sharply on Sunday to more than 2,000, the Taliban government said.

Death toll from 'unprecedented' Afghan quakes doubles to 2,000

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

Overseas

Death toll from 'unprecedented' Afghan quakes doubles to 2,000

Mohsen Karimi,

Agence France-Presse

Published October 08, 2023 03:51 PM PHT

|

Updated October 08, 2023 11:59 PM PHT

Read More:

Afghanistan

Afghanistan quake October 2023

death toll Afghanistan quake

earthquake afghanistan

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.