The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
More than 66,000 directly affected by Afghanistan’s quake victims
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has launched a multi-sectoral Herat Earthquake Response Plan in response to a series of powerful earthquakes that rocked Herat Province since 7 October.
In an update, OCHA reported that at least 1,480 people have been killed and 1,950 wounded.
Satellite imagery indicates that 289 villages have been severely impacted with many destroyed. The most recent earthquake on 15 October affected an estimated 30 new villages, forcing families to live in makeshift shelters or informal settlements. Speaking from Kabul, Katherine Carey, deputy head of the OCHA office in Kabul said that around 66,300 people had also been directly impacted across six primary districts.
Many of those who left their homes following the initial earthquake are now residing outside in either makeshift or temporary shelters out of fear of additional aftershocks, Ms. Carey added.
According to the OCHA spokesperson, the earthquake's impact is far-reaching with
reports of more than 3,700 homes completely destroyed and around 5,000 homes severely damaged. Upwards of 2,600 homes have sustained some kind of damage, along with schools and healthcare facilities.
As winter approaches, concern is also growing as people will be exposed to harsh weather and health risks.
With food resources limited and damaged water and sanitation points, fears are rising about disease outbreaks: “The priority really is to ensure that these families and communities have some protection from the elements.
“In terms of shelter requirements, obviously the immediate priority is to ensure that people not residing out in the open completely and they have some kind of protection,” Ms. Carey explained. “So, in the first instance we are providing families with emergency tents. But the reality is, is that will only be able to withstand them for so long as well. We will have to move them in some kind of transitional shelter, normally a sort of repurposed, prefabricated kind of module that is a bit more like a sort of temporary structure,” Ms. Carey added.
To help, the UN’s Herat Earthquake Response Plan requires some $93 million for 114,000 people. The OCHA spokesperson called on the community not to forget Afghanistan amid other high global needs: “We're able to provide the populations with the assistance they need insofar as we have the resources and the supplies to do so. We're already using existing stock that we have in country of tents, for example, and medical supplies and medicines and also of wash kits and hygiene kits and kits. And those will need to be replenished also as well,” she said.
ends
STORY: Update on Afghanistan’s earthquake response - OCHA
TRT: 02:17”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 17 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
2. View of interview with OCHA spokesperson.
3. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Katherine Carey, Deputy Head of Office, OCHA Afghanistan: “The information that we've got from our assessments that we've completed is about 66,300 people directly impacted across six primary districts that have sadly been just shy of 1500 people killed and around 2000 injured. The majority of those killed or injured were actually killed and injured in the first earthquake that took place on the 7th of October, after which many people left their homes and are actually residing outside in either makeshift or temporary shelters as well, out of fear that there may be additional aftershocks and the houses may collapse.”
4. View of interview with OCHA spokesperson.
5. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Katherine Carey, Deputy Head of Office, OCHA Afghanistan: “We've got reports of more than 3700 homes completely destroyed, around 5000 homes have been severely damaged. And then there are upwards of 2600 homes that have sustained some kind of damage. So this is affecting, you know, several thousand families in fairly remote, impoverished communities as well.”
6. View of interview with OCHA spokesperson.
7. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Katherine Carey, Deputy Head of Office, OCHA Afghanistan: “The priority really is to ensure that these families and communities have some protection from the elements, especially with winter fast approaching.
8. View of interview with OCHA spokesperson.
9. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Katherine Carey, Deputy Head of Office, OCHA Afghanistan:
In the first instance, we are providing families with emergency tents. But the reality is, is that will only be able to withstand them for so long as well. We will have to move them in some kind of transitional shelter, normally a sort of repurposed, prefabricated kind of module that is a bit more like a sort of temporary temporary structure.”
10. View of interview with OCHA spokesperson.
11. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Katherine Carey, Deputy Head of Office, OCHA Afghanistan: “Yesterday we launched an earthquake response plan outlining our requirements to meet the needs of the priority affected population over the course of winters up until March next year. And of course, you know, we're able to provide the populations with the assistance they need insofar as we have the resources and the supplies to do so.”
12. Screen with OCHA spokesperson.
13. View of interview with OCHA spokesperson.
14. View of interview with OCHA spokesperson.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Damaged roads, disrupted services and renewed military activity are putting civilians at risk in south Lebanon, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warns.
The UN peacekeeping mission is urging restraint and renewed political engagement to prevent further escalation.
1
1
1
Edited News | ICRC , UNODA
Amid unconfirmed reports that fully autonomous and AI-guided drones are now being used on the battlefield, UN chief António Guterres and the President of the Red Cross on Tuesday renewed their urgent call for stricter controls, before it is too late.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Somalia: child hunger surges as humanitarian aid dries up – UNICEF
The global funding crisis for vital lifesaving work is taking a growing toll on the most vulnerable children in Somalia, where hundreds of health and nutrition facilities have been forced to close, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
As the deadliest Ebola outbreak in DR Congo’s history continued spreading on Friday, UN responders renewed their urgent appeal for immediate international support, with existing funding for lifesaving work critically low.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: In the fight against Ebola, bikers transporting dead bodies hold key to community engagement - WHO
From the frontlines of the deadliest-ever Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) shared details on Tuesday of a massive push for community engagement, a day after yet another ambulance attack.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNFPA
Sudan: The harrowing reality of giving birth in a war zone
Sudanese women about to give birth are losing their babies and sometimes their own lives because of a lack of specialist healthcare support, amid the ongoing war, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Colombia earthquake: International teams ready to support, says UN
As earthquake rescue efforts across western Colombia continued on Tuesday, UN agencies said that they stood ready to help “with everything we've got” if and when the request came from the authorities.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | HRC
Myanmar's military has carried out a sustained campaign of deliberate attacks on civilians – including airstrikes on homes, schools and camps for displaced people, alongside arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence – Human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Tuesday.