Hope Fades as Aid Teams Scramble to Reach Afghan Quake Survivors

KABUL – Hope is fading for finding more survivors in the rubble of a devastating magnitude six earthquake that struck remote eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing more than 1,400 people and injuring over 3,100. Aid workers are racing against time, often on foot, to reach isolated mountain communities cut off by landslides, as the country grapples with a humanitarian crisis deepened by this latest disaster.

The earthquake, which struck late at night while families were sleeping, has left a trail of destruction across the mountainous provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman, bordering Pakistan. The UN's top aid official in the country, Indrika Ratwatte, warned that the total number of people impacted could be in the "hundreds of thousands," citing destroyed homes, lost livestock, and shattered livelihoods. In the worst-hit areas, entire villages have been "completely razed", and many homes, predominantly made of mud and wood, collapsed, trapping residents inside. One survivor, 80-year-old Gul Bibi from the village of Mazar Dara, said she lost everything and her entire family was buried, gesturing to the lone surviving toddler in her arms.

Rescue and aid efforts have been severely hampered by the region's difficult terrain and pre-existing challenges. Landslides and rockfalls triggered by the tremors have blocked roads, some of which were already impassable due to recent heavy rains. This has forced humanitarian teams to abandon vehicles and travel for hours on foot to reach affected villages. "Our staff and volunteers sometimes have to [walk] for about four to five hours to reach some of those remote villages," said Joy Singhal of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). A UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) team had to walk for two hours to get to Ghazi Abad district, with other villages reportedly a six- or seven-hour walk away and still unreached.

Compounding the access issues is a near-total collapse of communication networks in some areas, described as "zero connectivity," making it difficult to coordinate rescue operations and land helicopters. The two hospitals in the area are overwhelmed, and even getting basic medical supplies to where they are needed is a struggle. A mobile clinic was deployed to Mazar Dara, but healthcare provision remains fragile, with some medical staff treating the injured "outside, under trees" for fear of aftershocks collapsing damaged clinic walls.

Survivors are in urgent need of everything from emergency shelter and medical supplies to clean water and food. "People are saying what is urgently needed is people to help us bury the dead and get them out," said Salam Al-Jabani from UNICEF. Communities have reportedly been forced to dig graves with pickaxes due to limited resources. There is also a pressing need to dispose of bodies and dead livestock to prevent the outbreak of waterborne diseases.

This earthquake strikes at a time when Afghanistan is already facing "systemic humanitarian challenges". The country is suffering from endemic poverty, severe drought, and the strain of integrating 2.4 million Afghan refugees who returned from Iran and Pakistan in 2025. Worryingly, a majority of these returnees are heading to the very areas now devastated by the quake.

The international response is underway, with the UN releasing $10 million in emergency funds and deploying assessment teams. However, the broader aid effort is threatened by a severe funding shortfall. The $2.4 billion humanitarian response plan for 2025 is only 28% funded. The World Food Programme (WFP) warned it "can only afford to feed earthquake victims for a few more weeks before funding runs out". This disaster has pushed an already fragile humanitarian situation to a breaking point. As Jagan Chapagain of the Red Cross stated, "This earthquake could not have come at a worse time".