Residents of disaster: Survivors of Afghanistan’s earthquake struggle without food, shelter and water
A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, flattening stone and mud-brick homes, killing over 1,000 people in the country’s deadliest quake in two decades
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An Afghan man sits near his house that was destroyed in an earthquake in the Spera district of the southwestern part of Khost Province, Afghanistan, Wednesday, 22 June, 2022. Many survivors of Afghanistan's deadliest earthquake in more than two decades are without food, shelter and water as they await in devastated villages for relief workers to reach them. AP
Afghan children stand near a house that was destroyed in an earthquake in the Spera District of the southwestern part of Khost Province, Afghanistan, on 22 June, 2022. Wednesday's 5.9-magnitude quake killed more than 1,000 and left thousands homeless. AP
The earthquake struck areas already suffering the effects of heavy rain, causing rockfalls and mudslides that wiped out hamlets perched precariously on mountain slopes. Officials say nearly 10,000 houses were destroyed, an alarming number in an area where the average household size is more than 20 people. AP
Entire villages have been levelled in some of the worst affected districts, where survivors said they were even struggling to find equipment to bury their dead. Here, Afghans stand by the bodies of relatives killed in an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Thursday, 23 June.
Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan's emergency response teams were stretched to deal with the natural disasters that frequently strike the country. But with only a handful of airworthy planes and helicopters left since they returned to power, any immediate response to the latest catastrophe has been further limited. AP
Save the Children said more than 118,000 children were impacted by the disaster. Here, an Afghan man inside a hospital in the city of Sharan holds a child who was injured in an earthquake in Gayan District, Paktika Province, 22 June. AFP