Over 2,000 feared dead after powerful earthquakes hit Afghanistan
By Diaa Hadid
Afghan residents sit at a damaged house after an earthquake in a village in Herat province on Saturday. Mohsen Karimi/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Mohsen Karimi/AFP via Getty ImagesAfghan residents sit at a damaged house after an earthquake in a village in Herat province on Saturday.
Mohsen Karimi/AFP via Getty ImagesTwo strong earthquakes have shaken parts of western Afghanistan — with up to 2,000 feared dead and many injured. It's one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades.
A Taliban government spokesman said Sunday that death toll from strong earthquakes that shook Herat in western Afghanistan has risen to over 2,000.
Abdul Wahid Rayan, spokesman at the Ministry of Information and Culture, said the death toll is higher than originally reported. About six villages have been destroyed, and hundreds of civilians have been buried under the debris, he said while calling for urgent help.
At least five earthquakes hit around noon, Herat city resident Abdul Shakor Samadi .
"All people are out of their homes," Samadi said. "Houses, offices and shops are all empty and there are fears of more earthquakes. My family and I were inside our home, I felt the quake." His family began shouting and ran outside, he told the news service.
An aerial view of the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan on June 5. Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday, Oct. 7, the country's national disaster authority said. Rodrigo Abd/AP file photo hide caption
toggle caption Rodrigo Abd/AP file photoAn aerial view of the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan on June 5. Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday, Oct. 7, the country's national disaster authority said.
Rodrigo Abd/AP file photoHerat is Afghanistan's third-largest city and is located 75 miles east of the border with Iran. The earthquakes were also felt in Iran's northeastern Razavi Khorasan province.
Afghanistan's Taliban government ferried away some of the wounded by helicopter.
The United Nations earlier said at least 320 were killed, but later added that number was not verified.
The reported that a pair of earthquakes had a magnitude of 6.3, and they were followed by aftershocks.
The World Health Organization's office on X, formerly Twitter: "We have sent medicines & medical supplies to the hospitals to support treatment of those wounded. Our warehouse is ready to deploy for additional medicines as needed."
In June 2022, a remote area of eastern Afghanistan killing more than 1,000.
Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest and malnourished countries — and it has been largely isolated since the Taliban seized power
