Devastating earthquake strikes Afghanistan, deepening humanitarian crisis

Geoff Bennett:

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan late Sunday night, devastating entire villages. Thousands are believed to have been killed or injured, with hundreds feared trapped under the rubble. The quake's epicenter was in the Eastern province of Kunar, over 100 miles from the capital of Kabul.

William Brangham has our report.

William Brangham:

In a matter of seconds, a multistory building in Eastern Afghanistan reduced to rubble. Through the night, people searched for their loved ones, often with their bare hands.

The morning revealed the scale of devastation. Entire villages vanished, smashed into debris.

"This is my village. It's all collapsed now," he said. A wounded man walked out after being trapped for hours, a child inconsolable over the loss of his family.

Ahmad Gul, Afghanistan Resident (through interpreter):

This was my brother's house, and he, along with three of his children, were martyred. My other brother, together with his sons, was also martyred there. This is the condition of our home. Our dead are lying there on the ground.

Man (through interpreter):

Children are trapped under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble. We need help here.

William Brangham:

But getting help to them is very difficult. This is rough, unforgiving terrain, challenging to access even in the best of times.

The quake was shallow, barely five to eight miles down, and the shaking collapsed unreinforced mud-and-brick homes, leaving a wide trail of destruction. Since there are no emergency workers, villagers carry the wounded out on bamboo beds. The Taliban government has sent helicopters, but resources are scarce and the tragedy overwhelming.

Sherine Ibrahim, Afghanistan Director, International Rescue Committee:

That's just a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed in order to get people to safety and to normalize and stabilize the thousands of people who have been impacted by the earthquake.

William Brangham:

Sherine Ibrahim is the country director for the International Rescue Committee in Afghanistan. She spoke to us from Kabul.

Sherine Ibrahim:

Roads have been decimated, roads have been blocked, landslides have occurred, and it is becoming extremely hard to reach those who need the support most. Many of these communities have been partially or completely decimated, which actually means that it may be too late for us to get to a place and to a point where we are able to save lives as quickly as we would like.

William Brangham:

Four years of Taliban rule has left Afghanistan isolated globally, and foreign aid has largely disappeared, even as the country endures a severe drought, along with widespread hunger and poverty; 23 million people, nearly half the country's population, is in need of aid.

Sherine Ibrahim:

The humanitarian actors are on the ground. We are ready. We're prepared. We are responding as of today. However, the resources — given the multiple crises that Afghanistan faces, the resources are quite stretched. My appeal is to set aside the politics and clearly to support the humanitarian effort that is currently under way in Afghanistan.

William Brangham:

For a country that's already endured so much, this earthquake has left yet another landscape full of loss.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham.