More Misery As Afghanistan's Devastated Region Hit With New Earthquake

An Afghan boy mourns next to the grave of his little brother on October 9 as rescuers dig underneath the rubble of flattened homes. The child died two days earlier in an earthquake that hit the Zindah Jan district of western Afghanistan's Herat Province.

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the same area on October 11, destroying 700 homes in the village of Chahak, which had been untouched by the tremors of previous days. 

 

Afghan men carry the body of a woman on October 9 in the district of Zindah Jan.

The epicenter of the October 7 quake -- also with a 6.3 magnitude -- was about 40 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Herat city. Sources at the local hospital in Herat told RFE/RL that at least one person was killed and 65 others were injured in the new earthquake. 

Rescue workers have been combing the wreckage of homes night and day as mass burials take place.

Taliban officials said that more than 2,000 people had died across Herat Province after the earlier quakes. They subsequently said the quakes killed and injured thousands but didn't give a breakdown of casualties.

An Afghan man cries next to his destroyed home.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Zindah Jan was the worst-affected area, with more than 1,300 people killed and nearly 500 people still reported missing.

Afghan men carry a tent that will be used to house survivors of the quake.

Haq said UN satellite imagery also indicated extreme levels of destruction in the district of Injil.

“Our humanitarian colleagues warn that children are particularly vulnerable and have suffered severe psychological distress from the earthquake,” he said.

Atefeh, 6, who lost her father and brother in the recent earthquake, is now living in a tent at the Red Crescent camp near Zindah Jan on October 10.

 

Taliban soldiers walk through a cemetery for victims of the recent earthquake. 

Neighboring Pakistan has offered assistance but officials in Islamabad said the delivery of its humanitarian aid has been on hold since October 9 as they wait for “clearance” from the Taliban.

A boy reacts next to the body of his sister who was killed in an earthquake.

 

A family photograph hangs on the wall of a destroyed home following an earthquake in Chahak on October 11.

The World Health Organization has put the total number of people affected at more than 11,000.

 An Afghan woman carries a mattress and pillow that she salvaged from her destroyed home.

An aerial view of destroyed houses after the October 11 earthquake in the village of Chahak.