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Thousands of Afghans who survived a powerful earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people<\/a> were bracing for a winter of homelessness on Tuesday, as rescuers made last-ditch efforts to find survivors.<\/p>\n Volunteers have worked with spades and pickaxes in Herat province since Saturday\u2019s deadly magnitude 6.3 quake \u2014 followed by powerful aftershocks \u2014 while others dug graves instead.<\/p>\n The United Nations said more than 12,000 people, from some 1,700 families, are estimated to have been affected.<\/p>\n It said \u201c100 per cent\u201d of homes were destroyed in 11 villages of Zenda Jan district.<\/p>\n Zareen, in the village of Nayeb Rafi, where 11 of his family members were killed in the crush of falling masonry, said aid tents would not withstand the winter storms.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the government doesn\u2019t take us away or help us, we will be stuck here,\u201d the man in his 70s told AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n Providing shelter on a large scale will be a challenge for Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban authorities, who seized power in August 2021, and have fractious relations with international aid organisations.<\/p>\n \u201cNot a single house is left, not even a room where we could stay at night,\u201d said 40-year-old Mohammad Naeem, who told AFP<\/em> he lost 12 relatives including his mother.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t live here anymore. You can see, our family got martyred here. How could we live here?\u201d<\/p>\n In the provincial capital of Herat city \u2014 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of the quake epicentres in hard-to-reach Zenda Jan district \u2014 Doctors Without Borders said the injured now faced a new ordeal.<\/p>\n \u201cMore than 340 patients discharged yesterday don\u2019t want to leave the hospital as they have no homes to return to,\u201d the charity said on social media site X.<\/p>\n Local and national officials gave conflicting counts of the number of dead and injured, but the disaster ministry has said 2,053 people died.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t give exact numbers for dead and wounded as it is in flux,\u201d said disaster management ministry spokesman Mullah Janan Sayeq.<\/p>\n The UN said on Tuesday the death toll stood at nearly 1,300 with nearly 500 more still missing, the majority of them women.<\/p>\n Afghanistan is frequently hit by deadly earthquakes, but the weekend disaster is the worst to strike the impoverished country in more than 25 years.<\/p>\n Taliban authorities have banned women from working for UN and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Afghanistan, making it difficult to assess family needs in deeply conservative parts of the country.<\/p>\n Amnesty International said the Taliban government should ensure that rescue and relief efforts are carried out \u201cwithout discrimination\u201d and guarantee unrestricted access to the affected regions to humanitarian agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is critical that all assistance meets the needs of the most at-risk groups who often face compounded challenges in crisis situations, including women,\u201d said South Asia regional researcher Zaman Sultani.<\/p>\n Most rural homes in Afghanistan are made of mud and built around wooden support poles, with little in the way of modern steel reinforcement.<\/p>\n Multi-generational extended families generally live under the same roof, meaning disasters such as Saturday\u2019s quake can devastate local communities.<\/p>\n Afghanistan is already suffering a dire humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid following the Taliban\u2019s return to power.<\/p>\n Save the Children called the quakes \u201ca crisis on top of a crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n Herat province \u2014 home to around 1.9 million people on the border with Iran \u2014 has also been hit by a years-long drought that has crippled many hardscrabble farm communities.<\/p>\n The country is prone to quakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.<\/p>\nDischarged patients homeless<\/h2>\n
\u2018Crisis on top of crisis\u2019<\/h2>\n