At around 12:59 a.m. on the night of November 4, 2025, the earth shook violently when a devastating earthquake of a magnitude of 6.3 shook Samangan and Balkh provinces in the northern part of Afghanistan. Another quiet night quickly escalated into a living nightmare for the thousands of families caught in the wake of the earthquake, claiming at least 27 lives and injuring a staggering 1,000 people in the process. The aftermath of the disaster presents a reality much worse than the terror of the earthquake: the fact that winter is fast approaching, and there will be nowhere to go.
The devastating impact leaves families homeless and desperate
The center of the earthquake was recorded to be 22 kilometers west-southwest of the Khulm township, with a depth of 28 kilometers, said the United States Geological Survey. The aftershock was experienced in several provinces, namely Balkh, Samangan, Baghlan, and also in the region of Badakhshan. The first impression following the quake was alarming, with more than 500 injured people rushing to the hospitals.
In the Khulm district of the province of Samangan, a local man named Gulabuddin laments the loss of his daughter-in-law, who was unable to get out of the falling house in time. “We lost all our belongings,” he told the news agency Agence France-Presse while clinging to a head injury sustained from a piece of debris. “Winter is approaching, and our kids are only four and five years old.”
Historic Blue Mosque experiences heavy damage
The Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, one of the country’s most beloved landmarks and a masterpiece of architectural design from the 15th century, has been severely damaged in the quake. The precious blue tiles lining its minarets came crashing down, while the walls and historical scripts in the structure also cracked due to the shockwaves generated by the quake. This historical mosque, believed to contain the tomb of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, is now closed to visitors and devotees while its structural integrity is evaluated.
The survivors in the country are now in a desperate battle against time, where temperatures are poised to fall to -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days. Most people in the area sleep in gardens and terraces due to fear of living in homes that are in a precarious condition following the earthquake. This comes hot on the heels of a similar earthquake in August that resulted in the loss of more than 2,200 lives in the country.
Reconstruction work affected by resource constraints
The International Organization for Migration has reported that “77 percent of the survivors are planning to occupy the same area in the winter because they cannot afford to move and lack an alternative solution.” The Taliban government asserts that “scores of new homes are now being constructed in the affected area,” but nothing much has been noted, but for a bulldozer removing debris in one area. Living in the region, the people understand the need to alter traditional methods of housing construction to avoid any accidents in the future.
“We should rebuild in the right way, with concrete and bricks,” said farmer Sayid Wali Safay, 27 years old.
Another resident, Awal Jan, has the same concern: “We want to rebuild our house in the same place, but not in the same way. If we don’t want our house to collapse again, only concrete will do.”
Afghanistan lies directly over the region where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates interact and collide, making the country extremely vulnerable to earthquakes. The August earthquake alone resulted in an estimated $183 million in damage, of which one percent constitutes the country’s gross domestic product. The fact that winter is approaching and the displaced people lack proper housing means that the natural disasters and humanitarian crises may culminate in a worse scenario for the vulnerable population in the country.
