Initial assessments by the United Nations regarding the impact of the recent deadly earthquake in Afghanistan revealed that 5,230 homes were destroyed and another 672 damaged across 49 villages. The UN has been unable to access the vast majority of remote villages.
Shannon Awahara, Head of Coordination at the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs in Afghanistan, said on Monday that the rugged and mountainous terrain in eastern Afghanistan—where the 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck—made it extremely difficult to assess damage in 441 affected villages. She added that a series of aftershocks, ranging from 5.2 to 5.6 in magnitude, further complicated the assessment process.
The earthquake occurred on August 31 and resulted in the deaths of at least 2,200 people, with the death toll expected to rise as more bodies are recovered. The UN estimates that around 500,000 people were affected, more than half of them children, including some Afghans who were forcibly returned from Pakistan and Iran.
Awahara explained that reaching the most severely affected areas was extremely challenging. The journey from Jalalabad—the largest city near the earthquake zone—to the disaster center took about six and a half hours via the only available road, a narrow single-lane path carved into the mountainside, obstructed by rocks from landslides.
She noted that many vehicles, including trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, were attempting to reach the valley to assist the local population.