Devastating earthquakes struck Afghanistan on Saturday, resulting in the loss of lives of over 2,000 people and more than 9,000 injuries, the Taliban government has said.
These seismic events mark the deadliest tremors experienced in the earthquake-prone mountainous region in several years. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake, followed by strong aftershocks, killed several residents and damaged property in western Afghanistan on Saturday.
This seismic event was followed by three significantly strong aftershocks, measuring magnitudes of 6.3, 5.9, and 5.5, along with several smaller tremors.
Abdul Wahid Rayan, spokesman at the Ministry of Information and Culture, said the death toll from the earthquake in Herat is higher than originally reported, as per news agency AP. About six villages have been destroyed, and hundreds of civilians have been buried under the debris, he said while calling for urgent help.
Meanwhile, Dr Danish, an official from the Herat health department, reported that more than 200 deceased had been brought to various hospitals. He further noted that a significant majority of these casualties were women and children. Bodies had been “taken to several places – military bases, hospitals,” he added.
Mohammad Abdullah Jan, the spokesperson for the disaster authority, explained that four villages in the Zenda Jan district of Herat province bore the brunt of the earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks.
In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the UN agency reported, “As deaths and casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting treatment of wounded & assessing additional needs. WHO-supported ambulances are transporting those affected, most of them women and children.”
The Taliban issued a call, urging local organisations to promptly access the earthquake-affected regions to assist in transporting the injured to hospitals, offering shelter to those who have lost their homes, and delivering food to survivors. They emphasised that security agencies should mobilise all available resources and facilities to rescue individuals trapped beneath debris.
“People left their houses, we all are on the streets,” she wrote.
In Herat, telephone connections experienced disruptions, making it challenging to gather detailed information from the affected areas. Social media videos depicted hundreds of people on the streets outside their homes and offices in Herat city.
Notably, Herat province shares a border with Iran, and the earthquake’s effects were also felt in neighboring Afghan provinces such as Farah and Badghis, as reported by local media outlets.
Afghanistan, surrounded by mountains, has a long history of experiencing powerful earthquakes, particularly in the challenging terrain of the Hindu Kush region, which shares a border with Pakistan. Casualty figures frequently escalate when these seismic events strike remote areas, and the decades of conflict have left the country’s infrastructure in a state of disrepair, significantly hampering relief and rescue efforts.
