Metropolis Desk-
On Saturday, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake occurred around 40 km northwest of Herat. It was followed by powerful aftershocks that were noticed in the nearby provinces of Badghis and Farah.
As of Sunday afternoon, 2,053 people had died as a result of the tremors, according to Janan Sayeeq, a spokesperson for the Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority. The tremors destroyed at least 12 communities.
The authorities sent out rescue teams as more than 1,300 homes were damaged and about 1,200 people were hurt.
Sayeeq told Arab News that “the majority of people are still under their destroyed houses.” “Rescue efforts for the victims are underway.”
The identical figures were provided by Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who is headquartered in Qatar.
The number of fatalities increased from the 500 that the Afghan Red Crescent Society had earlier announced; the organization had stated that it anticipated that number to rise as authorities and aid workers attempted to reach the hardest-hit areas.
According to the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, the earthquakes had caused 80% of Herat’s people to be displaced. The province is thought to be home to 1.9 million people.
The branch of the World Health Organization in Afghanistan announced on Saturday that it had dispatched 12 ambulances to Herat’s hardest-hit areas to aid with the evacuation of wounded, but issued a dire warning that “operations are being hampered by logistical issues.”
The majority of homes are still made of mud and stones, thus they are quite vulnerable.
The huge earthquake that struck Afghanistan on Saturday is the country’s second in less than a year. In June 2022, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck the southeast of the nation killed over 1,000 people and injured 1,600 more.
Source- Arab News
