More than 90% of people killed by western Afghanistan quake were women and children, UN says

More than 90% of people killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were women and children, U.N. officials reported Thursday.

Taliban officials said Saturday's earthquake killed more than 2,000 people of all ages and genders across Herat province. epicenter was in Zenda Jan district, where 1,294 people died, 1,688 were injured and every home was destroyed, according to U.N. figures.

Women and children were more likely to have been at home when quake struck in morning, said Siddig Ibrahim, chief of UNICEF field office in Herat, said. “When first earthquake hit, people thought it was an explosion, and y ran into ir homes,” he said.

Hundreds of people, mostly women, remain missing in Zenda Jan.

Afghanistan representative for United Nations Population Fund, Jaime Nal, said re would have been no “gender dimension” to death toll if quake h happened at night.

“At that time of day, men were out in field,” Nal told Associated Press. “Many men migrate to Iran for work. women were at home doing chores and looking after children. y found mselves trapped under rubble. re was clearly a gender dimension.”

initial quake, numerous aftershocks and a second 6.3-magnitude quake on Wednesday flattened entire villages, destroying hundreds of mud-brick homes that could not withstand such force. Schools, health clinics and or village facilities also collapsed.

Norwegian Refugee Council described devastation as enormous.

“Early reports from our teams are that many of those who lost ir lives were small children who were crushed or suffocated after buildings collapsed on m,” council said.

maternity hospital in Herat province has cracks that make structure unsafe. U.N. Population Fund has provided tents so pregnant women have somewhere to stay and receive care, Nal said.

Many people inside and outside provincial capital are still sleeping outside, even as temperatures drop.

disproportionate impact of quake on women has left children without mors, ir primary caregivers, raising questions about who will raise m or how to reunite m with fars who might be out of province or Afghanistan.

Aid officials say orphanages are non-existent or uncommon, meaning children who have lost one or both parents were likely to be taken in by surviving relatives or community members.

Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, where re are a number of fault lines and frequent movement among three nearby tectonic plates.

Women may be at greater risk of being unprepared for quakes because of Taliban edicts curtailing ir mobility and rights , and restrictions imposed on female humanitarian workers, a U.N. report has warned.

Authorities have barred girls from school beyond sixth gre and stopped women from working at nongovernmental groups, although re are exceptions for some sectors like health care. Taliban also say that women cannot travel long distances without male chaperones.

Aid agencies say ir female Afghan staff members are “for now” working freely in Herat and reaching women and girls affected by earthquake.

UNICEF has launched a $20 million appeal to help estimate 13,000 children and families devastated by earthquake.