UN warns of race against time to clear rubble after Afghanistan earthquake
Aid workers race to reach affected communities as eastern Afghanistan reels from a 6.0-magnitude quake that killed more than 2,000 people and disrupted remote areas.
A United Nations assessment says aid workers are in a race against time to clear rubble and begin rebuilding after a devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan late on Aug. 31. The 6.0-magnitude quake killed at least 2,200 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes in a mountainous region, many of them built of mud, wood, or stone.
Many dwellings collapsed in the darkness, turning homes into deadly traps as residents slept. Satellite data from the United Nations Development Program shows about 40,500 truckloads of debris still must be cleared from affected areas across several provinces, complicating relief efforts. Entire communities have been upended, and families are sleeping outdoors as the region wrestles with displacement and limited access in rugged terrain. The quake’s epicenter was in the remote Kunar province, challenging rescue and relief operations by the Taliban government and humanitarian groups. Aid workers have relied on helicopters or airdrops to reach survivors, with some teams trekking on foot for hours to reach isolated communities. Authorities have framed the operation as a race against time, emphasizing the urgency of debris removal and reconstruction.
In the response, authorities report efforts to restore essential services and housing as relief reaches more areas. People’s primary requests center on the reconstruction of houses and the restoration of water supplies, according to Zia ur Rahman Speenghar, a spokesman for a Taliban government committee tasked with assisting survivors. Three new roads are under construction in the Dewagal Valley, and officials say there will be further efforts to build roads to parts of the country that previously had little or no access. Speenghar added that while international partners have offered assistance for housing, such work takes time; after the second round of aid, a third round will consider what kinds of houses can be built in the affected communities.
The disaster comes amid a broader crisis in Afghanistan described by U.N. officials as a “perfect storm” of challenges. Roza Otunbayeva, who leads the U.N. mission to the country, told the U.N. Security Council that advancing Afghanistan’s development potential is essential to address restrictions on personal freedoms, aid cuts, a struggling economy, climate-related stressors, and significant population returns from neighboring countries.