"We will resume work early in the morning tomorrow. There are still many bodies to be recovered under the ground. Some villages have also been completely destroyed," the official said.
Kari Seyfullah, a local resident, said they are in immediate need of food and a tent, adding that nearly 1,500 houses in the region were destroyed.
A middle-aged woman said she started living in a tent she set up in the courtyard of her house, which was completely destroyed.
Noting that she lost her husband and four children, the woman said she took the things she could get out of the wreckage of her destroyed house to the courtyard. "I have a son with me now," she added.
Nearly 1,600 people have been injured when the quake hit the Paktika province, according to authorities, while the death toll is feared to rise.
