One year after Herat earthquake, survivors still struggling

HERAT (TOLOnews): A year has passed since the devastating earthquake in Herat. Several earthquake survivors told TOLOnews that despite the passage of time, they have not yet overcome the grief of losing their loved ones, and their lives have not returned to normal.

Although homes and shelters have been built for many of the affected, survivors say that they have lost their agricultural and livestock livelihoods, and international aid has been cut off for several months.

Mina, who lost five members of her family in this tragic natural disaster, says her grief is still fresh. She told a TOLOnews reporter, “My sorrow grows stronger each day. Every time I look at their photos, I become deeply distressed. Their grief burns like fire in my heart, and I cry day and night.”

Abdul Zahir, a resident of the Zinda Jan district of Herat, spoke about the events of a year ago: “The two children who remain with us wake up in the middle of the night terrified of an earthquake. I comfort them, telling them to go back to sleep and that there is nothing to worry about. But they carry the fear in their hearts, and they are anxious. The women are also very afraid and constantly worried about earthquakes.”

The construction of a new home in his ruined village has somewhat eased Abdul Ghani’s grief.

The forty-year-old man lives with his ten-member family in a house built by a charity. Abdul Ghani, a resident of Zinda Jan, said, “We spent two months of winter under a tent, and it was very difficult. Since these houses have been built for us, things have improved, and they are very good houses.”

According to local officials in Herat, nearly 10,000 houses have been built for the earthquake survivors in the past year. Global aid organizations, charitable foundations, businessmen, and the interim government have contributed to the construction of these homes.

Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the head of Herat’s Department of Information and Culture, told TOLOnews: “Over the past year, various forms of assistance have been provided to the earthquake survivors, from building homes to providing clean drinking water as their wells had been damaged. We provided food for their livestock and even drilled water wells for them.”

According to the survivors, most of whom are farmers and livestock herders, the earthquake severely damaged their agriculture and livestock industries, depriving them of their income sources.

For several months now, humanitarian aid from international organizations has been halted in the earthquake-affected villages, making life difficult for the survivors.

Ghulam Ali, a resident of Zinda Jan district, said: “It’s been four or five months since we’ve received any aid—neither food nor clothing. Winter has arrived, and we don’t have firewood, heaters, winter clothes, or food to eat.”

Ghulam Hassan, another resident of Zinda Jan, said: “We have five sheep shared among five or six families, and we have nothing else. They provided some assistance, but we’ve used it all up.”

During the continuous earthquakes of last year in Herat, more than twenty villages in the districts of Zinda Jan, Injil, and Kushk/Rabat-e-Sangi district were leveled. According to statistics, nearly 50,000 homes were either completely or partially destroyed. Over 1,000 people lost their lives, and nearly 2,500 others were injured.