This report was updated on November 11 with new information. In the version published on November 6, it was reported—based on information from one of Shamsullah’s relatives—that he and his wife had died in the earthquake. After direct contact with Shamsullah’s family, it was confirmed that this information was incorrect. Accordingly, the report has been rewritten with accurate and verified details.
On the night of the earthquake, it was 38-year-old Shamsullah’s wedding night in Marmul district of Balkh province. Until around one o’clock in the morning, guests and family members were still celebrating. When the earthquake struck, everyone—including the bride and groom—ran out of the courtyard.
Shamsullah recalls: “The guests’ cars were all parked outside the courtyard. As soon as we felt the strong tremor, we put the women and children in the cars and took them to a large open field.”
A few hours after the quake, Shamsullah and several other men returned to the village. “When we entered the courtyard, we saw that everything was leveled. The three rooms I had just built for my bride, my parents’ two rooms, the kitchen, even our animal sheds—all had collapsed.”
The bride’s dowry and all her belongings were buried under the rubble before they could begin their married life. Although they managed to recover some of their possessions a few days later, they no longer had a place to live. Shamsullah says the only aid he has received so far is a sack of flour and a can of oil.
In a phone interview with Zan Times, he said, “An aid organization distributed a few tents, but I have no land to pitch one. I had one jerib of land, but I was forced to sell it to cover the wedding expenses.”
In addition to selling his land, Shamsullah says he has gone into debt—owing 400,000 afghani—to pay for the wedding.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the quake that hit on Sunday, November 2 measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, striking at a depth of 28 kilometres below the surface of the earth, with an epicentre in Khulm district of Samangan province. The tremor was felt across northern Afghanistan — including Balkh, Samangan, Sar-e-Pul, Jawzjan, Faryab, Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan, and even Kabul.
The level of destruction was particularly high in Balkh and Samangan. Many survivors have been sleeping outdoors, afraid to return to damaged homes as the nights grow colder.
The day after the quake hit, Yousuf, 37, a charity worker from Balkh, visited Bazark village near the Tangi Tashkurgan mountain pass to assess the damage.
“More than 20 grocery shops were buried under rocks,” he says to Zan Times. “The road that connects Balkh and Samangan is blocked and covered in debris. Some shopkeepers and travelers were killed. There was blood everywhere.”
Hospitals have been overwhelmed. Samiullah, a nurse at the 50-bed hospital in Sholgara district in Balkh, said the tremors were so strong the hospital building swayed.
“I don’t even remember how I ran outside,” he says. “Minutes later, our district governor messaged in our WhatsApp group — everyone had to rush to Haji Baba area where homes had collapsed.”
On the night the quake hit the hospital received 57 injured and three dead, most of them children aged between one and 12 years old.
Local officials in Khulm district tell Zan Times that at least 31 people were killed and 820 injured in Balkh and Samangan. As of November 5, the United Nations reported that at least 25 had died, another 984 had been injured, and nearly 800 homes destroyed.
Shahgol, a 26-year-old mother of eight from Tangi Tashkurgan, said one of her sons was trapped under rubble but survived after being rescued. He is being treated at the hospital in Aybak city.
“A surveyor came and saw our house,” she recounts. “It’s completely destroyed. Only half of one room is still standing — all of us live in there now. No aid has reached us. We are poor people; we can’t rebuild our homes without help. We’re asking the government to assist us.”
Despite the widespread destruction, aid has been slow to arrive. Across Balkh and Samangan, survivors whose belongings are buried under debris have gathered in schools and public parks as they wait for assistance. They report that food, shelter, and medical supplies are scarce.
On November 3, the Taliban once again reiterated their restriction of women from working in humanitarian operations. That led to the suspension of some UN activities along the Afghanistan-Iran border and has further delayed relief efforts in the quake-hit north.
Four days after the disaster, hundreds of families remain outdoors, cold, injured, and waiting — their grief deepened by silence and inaction.
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees and writers. Atia FarAzar and Laila Sama are the pseudonyms of Zan Times journalists.
