Sarpol-e Zahab was the city hardest hit by a devastating earthquake that rocked most of Iran's western Kermanshah province Nov. 12, 2017, killing over 600 people. It is also where children still play a game where they simulate the quake by making the horrible sounds and frightening each other in the rubble — an indication of just how entangled the disaster has become with the lives of traumatized survivors.
Media reports on the ground show that the misery is far from over and a complete return to normal life remains a dream to come true. "People have gotten used to living in the midst of the rubble, the dirt and the metal shelters, which are but a real home," a survivor told Jahan Sanat daily. "Every time it rains, we are stuck in mud up to our knees. After one year, conditions are still awful — nothing has changed," complained a woman from a quake-hit village.
