Photos: Afghanistan earthquakes kill at least 2,000 people
The country was rocked by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, which was followed by strong aftershocks.
Powerful earthquakes rocked western Afghanistan over the weekend, killing at least 2,000 people and leaving hundreds of others trapped or missing in one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit the region in decades.
And officials warned that the already grim toll may still rise.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Saturday’s magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit a densely populated area near Herat, the Taliban-led nation's third-largest city. It was followed by strong aftershocks measuring 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.
"Entire villages were flattened, bodies were trapped under collapsed houses and locals waited for help without even shovels to dig people out," the Associated Press reported Sunday. "Living and dead, victims were trapped under rubble, their faces gray with dust.”
The desperate search for survivors brought both hope and heartache.
“People in Herat freed a baby girl from a collapsed building after she was buried up to her neck in debris,” the AP reported. “A hand cradled the baby’s torso as rescuers eased the child out of the ground. Rescuers said it was the baby’s mother. It was not clear if the mother survived.”
A Taliban government spokesman said Sunday that the death toll, if confirmed, would make Saturday’s quake one of the deadliest to strike the country in two decades.
In June 2022, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake killed more than 1,000 people in eastern Afghanistan.
Humanitarian aid groups are scrambling to help victims, with Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and other charitable organizations setting up mobile medical tents to accommodate the wounded.
“This is a crisis on top of a crisis,” Save the Children Afghanistan Director Arshad Malik told the AP. “Even before this disaster, children were suffering from a devastating lack of food."
