Afghanistan Hit By Multiple Powerful Earthquakes

Al Jazeera reported that the area near Herat, Afghanistan, has been hit with a series of powerful earthquakes recently. In particular, two earthquakes of 6.3 magnitude struck the region, killing at least 1,000. Homes have been destroyed and a landslide blocked a major thoroughfare near Herat.

“We can’t live here anymore. You can see, our family got martyred here. How could we live here?” said Mohammad Naeem, who lost his mother and 11 other relatives in the earthquakes.

More than 90 percent of the dead are women and children, said France 24, citing UNICEF. “Women and children are often at home, tending to the household and caring for children, so when structures collapse, they are the most at risk,” said Herat-based UNICEF field officer Siddig Ibrahim to the news outlet.

Afghanistan was already one of the poorest countries in the world prior to its takeover by the Taliban after U.S. military forces exited in August 2021. International penalties subsequently placed on the government have increased the amount of hardship endured by the Afghan population.

This article was published by the Globetrotter News Service