Afghanistan: Flash Update #2 Earthquake in Herat Province, Afghanistan, 8 October 2023 (as of 22.00)

Highlights

  • Humanitarian partners are ramping up response efforts following yesterday’s devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Herat Province, western Afghanistan.

  • Search and rescue efforts are continuing, with rapid multi-sectoral assessment teams deployed to affected areas.

  • To date, 1,023 people are reported to have been killed and 1,663 people injured across eleven villages of Zindajan district, Herat Province, where 100 per cent of homes are estimated to have been completely destroyed. A further 516 people (203 men and 213 women) are reported to be missing from the district.

  • In total, 11,585 people (1,655 families) are assessed to have been affected to date across Zindajan district (1,320 families), and Injil (150 families), Gulran (95 families), Kohsan (60 families) and Kushk (Robat-e-Sagani) districts (30 families). 1 The number of casualties and affected households affected is expected to rise as remote areas are reached and assessments are completed.
    In Naieb Rafi village, the de-facto authorities (DfA), transported women and children whose homes had been completely destroyed to Herat City overnight and today. So far, assessments have identified 33 unaccompanied minors, 15 unaccompanied elderly, and 48 female-headed households in Zindajan district.

  • The majority of those injured are being treated in the Herat Regional Hospital, which is serving as the main referral point for earthquake victims. The hospital is currently treating 552 patients (81 men, 199 women, 229 children and 43 unknown). It has also confirmed the deaths of 252 individuals.

  • On 8 October, 121 households displaced from Zindajan district to Herat city were assessed and supported with non-food items (NFIs). Other forms of assistance being provided include emergency shelter, high-energy biscuits, WASH (hygiene kits, water buckets, jerrycans, chlorine, soap and water trucking), and protection (dignity kits and psychosocial support). Search and rescue support has also been provided with one INGO deploying four rescue teams (12 people), including equipment.

  • To support the response, the Humanitarian Coordinator has approved a US $5 million emergency reserve allocation from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF). OCHA will launch and fully process the allocation within 24 hours with eligible partners able to utilize their grants effective, 9 October. Further AHF allocations will be dependent upon additional donor resources being received, for which related advocacy and outreach is ongoing.

  • Humanitarian partners will also develop an emergency appeal which will be a subset of the existing 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan.