6 months after quake, 25,000 children still live, study in tents in Kunar

KABUL (Pajhwok): Save the Children says around 25,000 children are still living and studying in tents six months after a deadly earthquake struck eastern Kunar province.

On 31 August 2025, a powerful earthquake hit Kunar, Nangarhar, Laghman, Panjsher and Nuristan provinces.

According to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), the earthquake measured 6.0 on the Richter scale with a depth of eight kilometres.

Some sources reported a magnitude of 6.2 and a depth of up to 10 kilometres. The epicentre was in Nurgal district of Kunar, where the heaviest damage occurred.

Government figures indicate the earthquake killed 2,205 people and injured 3,640 others in Kunar. In Nangarhar, 12 people were killed and 255 injured, while 80 people were injured in Laghman. A total of 6,782 houses were destroyed.

In a report released today (Thursday), Save the Children stated that six months after the devastating earthquake, homes and schools have yet to be rebuilt and no clear timeline for reconstruction has been set. Around 25,000 children continue to live and study in tents.

The organisation added that the quake forced children and families into temporary shelters, some of which were damaged by recent heavy snowfall in the remote region.

The report also noted that the earthquake completely or partially destroyed more than half of the nearly 1,300 classrooms assessed. Even before the quake, nearly 50,000 primary school-aged children in Kunar, the worst-affected province, were out of school.

Construction work has not yet begun on damaged or destroyed classrooms, and around 17,000 children from affected schools are currently studying in temporary spaces across the earthquake-hit areas.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has not commented on the report so far.

Last month, a technical team from the Survey and GIS Directorate of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MoUDH) completed a survey of approximately 500 acres of land.

The survey was intended to prepare a plan for the construction of an organised and standard township for earthquake-affected residents of Kunar province.

Last year, Mawlawi Nabiullah Talha, Provincial Urban Development and Housing Director, announced the launch of construction work on 10 additional houses for quake-affected families in the province.

kk/sa