Just before midnight on Sunday, Matiullah Shahab woke up to find his house in Afghanistan's remote Kunar province shaking. An earthquake measuring 6.0 magnitude had struck eastern Afghanistan, leaving at least 800 people dead, according to the UN. Even though the epicentre of the quake was 16km (10 miles) away, the whole of Shahab's village of Asadabad trembled. The 23 family members who live with him ran out of their bedrooms as they feared the walls would fall in on them and stayed awake all night in their garden. We were all afraid, he says.
The areas worst hit by the quake were Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, but the tremors were felt in the capital, Kabul, and even in parts of neighboring Pakistan.
When day broke, Matiullah, a freelance journalist and human rights activist, drove from his home to try to reach the management area near the earthquake's epicentre. He arrived at the worst-hit village of Andarlachak to find several young children being treated by medics in the street. A pair of toddlers lay together on a stretcher with bruises on their chests and faces. Tragically, 79 people died in Andarlachak alone.
Matiullah helped local people dig graves for the victims. The villages I visited were destroyed, he recounts, describing residents in shock, unable to express their grief. The Taliban government has been relying on helicopters to carry out rescue operations, amid reports of individuals succumbing to injuries while waiting for help.
Many residents are now sleeping outdoors as they await assistance, desperately in need of shelter and supplies.
Ezzatullah Safi, another local resident, described the chaos as part of his house collapsed: I woke to the screams of children, women, and animals. Dust filled the air as we searched for safety. Government helicopters are airlifting the injured to safety, yet the atmosphere remains heavy with grief, as the community comes to terms with the devastating loss.
The areas worst hit by the quake were Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, but the tremors were felt in the capital, Kabul, and even in parts of neighboring Pakistan.
When day broke, Matiullah, a freelance journalist and human rights activist, drove from his home to try to reach the management area near the earthquake's epicentre. He arrived at the worst-hit village of Andarlachak to find several young children being treated by medics in the street. A pair of toddlers lay together on a stretcher with bruises on their chests and faces. Tragically, 79 people died in Andarlachak alone.
Matiullah helped local people dig graves for the victims. The villages I visited were destroyed, he recounts, describing residents in shock, unable to express their grief. The Taliban government has been relying on helicopters to carry out rescue operations, amid reports of individuals succumbing to injuries while waiting for help.
Many residents are now sleeping outdoors as they await assistance, desperately in need of shelter and supplies.
Ezzatullah Safi, another local resident, described the chaos as part of his house collapsed: I woke to the screams of children, women, and animals. Dust filled the air as we searched for safety. Government helicopters are airlifting the injured to safety, yet the atmosphere remains heavy with grief, as the community comes to terms with the devastating loss.
