AFGHANISTAN - March 25 - Devastating Earthquake.

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake hits the northern town of Nahrin and 80 nearby villages, leaving an estimated 100,000 people hungry and homeless. The area is heavily mined after years of armed conflicts, making it difficult for search teams to reach all potentially damaged areas. On March 28, the UN said more than 700 people died, but the toll was expected to reach 800-1,200, although initially government officials said at least 1,800 people were killed and another 3,000 injured. The spokeswoman for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Stephanie Bunker said: "We are still trying to get a handle on the situation, but it will take some time". She said survey teams had already visited 48 of about 100 villages in the area to assess the damage. Relief supplies and assistance poured into the area with remarkable speed. On March 27, the newer section of Nahrin was transformed into a well-equipped tent city, with doctors from the Afghan Public Health Ministry operating in one tent and a dozen aid groups from the UN and several countries co-ordinating relief work in others. Interim PM Hamid Karzai flew to Nahrin from Kabul and spent three hours visiting the damaged areas. He told survivors: "We are sending food, blankets and medicine". He declared the March 28 a national day of mourning. A medical clinic was set up by Medicins sans Frontieres, a French relief agency. More than 100 tonnes of donated food have been sent in from nearby cities by the World Food Programme. A UN official said: "The aid is here, but it is difficult getting it to people. People are fearful of coming back into the town because of aftershocks, so they are staying on open hillsides". (Still, the relief supplies were arriving far more quickly than in 1998, when a quake in the same area killed 5,000 people and it took aid workers a week to reach desperate villagers). A Russian mobile hospital unit arrived from Tadjikistan. Pakistan dispatched a C-130 transport plane carrying tents, blankets and medicine. But UN officials said 20,000 tents, 160,000 blankets and 10,000 mattresses were still needed.