Attachments
Sixth revision of Emergency Appeal MDRAF007 seeks CHF 120 million overall and is currently 41 per cent funded. The funding requirement for Herat earthquakes Operational Strategy is CHF 9 million, of which contributions amounting to CHF 4.95 million (55 per cent) had been recorded as of 31 May 2024. Further funding contributions are needed to enable the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), to continue with humanitarian assistance to people affected by the earthquakes in Herat Province.
Description of the crisis
On 7 October 2023, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, along with several aftershocks, struck western Afghanistan. The earthquake's epicenter was in the Zinda Jan district, approximately 40 km (about 24.85 mi) northwest of Herat City. Herat bore the brunt of the impact, although the earthquake was strongly felt across four provinces: Badghis, Farah, Ghor, and Herat. The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) stated that the earthquakes mainly affected 382 villages in 10 districts (Ghoryan, Gulran, Guzara, Herat, Injil, Karukh, Kohsan, Kushki Kohna, Robat Sangi and Zinda Jan) and resulted in over 2,000 human deaths. Displaced families are either living in the makeshift shelters, or informal settlement sites – making them highly susceptible to adverse weather conditions, health risks, and other hazards.
The affected communities suffered extensive damage, losing lives, homes, livestock, agricultural land, and livelihoods. Humanitarian assistance is needed to help rebuild lives, revive agriculture, develop business and job skills, and recover from this tragedy. Volunteers and staff from the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) in Herat, supported by teams from neighboring provinces, were among the first responders. ARCS deployed 32 response teams and backed by Red Cross/Crescent partners, carried out lifesaving activities such as search and rescue, first aid, food and water distribution, shelter, and medical transport.
In response to the earthquake, the IFRC Secretariat dispatched emergency shelter and household items, allocated CHF 750,000 from the IFRC Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) and relaunched the Emergency Appeal (MDRAF007) to address immediate and recovery needs arising from the earthquakes. Furthermore, a separate operational strategy was developed for the Herat Earthquake Response, targeting 50,000 people with multisectoral assistance including food, cash, shelter, health, support for livelihoods, winter preparation, and enhancing the response capacity of the National Society, with a funding requirement of CHF 9 million. This response is among several others supported by the IFRC in the context of multiple humanitarian crises affecting Afghanistan.