Media reports say the death toll in Saturday’s earthquakes that leveled multiple villages in western Afghanistan exceeded 2,500.
Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency (AA) reports that Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for Kabul police, said on X that according to the officials of the Ministry of Disaster Management, the number of martyrs due to the earthquake in Herat has exceeded 2,500.
“Aid teams are working in the area. The affected people in the area still need shelter and food,” Zadran added.
Earlier, the Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority reportedly said more than 1,300 houses were partially or fully destroyed in the earthquake.
The earthquake has reportedly affected at least 14 villages in Zindajan, leaving behind almost every house destroyed. The houses in the villages are made of mud in the traditional way.
TOLOnews reported yesterday that Naib Rafi village in Zindajan district of Herat was the most affected from a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that left over 2,400 people dead and over 2,000 injured.
Some victims reportedly lost all their family members. Footage shows that the village is destroyed completely, according to TOLOnews.
Rescue teams along with local men are struggling to pull out the dead and injured trapped under the razed houses.
Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority’s spokesman Mullah Janan Saiq reprotedly said earlier that earlier said the death toll could further rise, and that the tremors caused heavy damage in northwestern Herat and Badghis provinces.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), strong earthquakes of magnitude 5.5, 5.9, and 6.2 jolted the Afghan provinces. It said the epicenter was 35 kilometers northwest of Herat city.
Citing the Taliban administration, Reuters reported today that 2,445 people were killed in earthquake in Afghanistan, in deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years.
The BBC reported on October 8 that the 6.3 magnitude quake devastated at least 12 villages near the city of Herat on Saturday. There were powerful aftershocks.
Rescue teams worked through the night trying to find survivors trapped beneath the rubble.
Thousands of people have been injured. In a country with sorely inadequate medical facilities, hospitals are struggling to treat the injured. The UN and other organizations have begun to rush in emergency supplies.
The worst affected communities are remote and consist of mud structures.
The Taliban public health minister is visiting Herat to assess the scale of the impact. The World Health Organization (WHO) said at least 465 houses had been flattened.
The quakes were among the world’s deadliest quakes this year, after tremors in Turkiye and Syria killed an estimated 50,000 in February.
