On Wednesday, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck northwestern Afghanistan, as reported by the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ).
This earthquake become a part of a series of tremors that have been affecting comparable areas in Afghanistan over the weekend. The quake’s intensity was about 10 kilometers, and its epicenter became positioned about 29 kilometers north of Herat province, consistent with the United States Geological Survey.
There were no immediate details available regarding casualties caused by this recent earthquake, according to Janan Sayeeq, a disaster management spokesman interviewed by Reuters.
Following the previous earthquakes over the weekend, which had devastated entire villages and affected around 12,000 people, rescue teams and volunteers had been working tirelessly to locate survivors, as estimated by the United Nations (UN).
The number of casualties from the earlier earthquakes remained uncertain, with conflicting reports from local and national officials, but the disaster ministry had reported 2,053 deaths. Janan Sayeq from the disaster management ministry explained that the situation was still fluid, making it challenging to provide precise numbers for the injured and deceased.
Fortunately, there have been no instantaneous reports of recent casualties following Wednesday’s earthquake, which struck near Herat town, a home to more than half 1,000,000 humans.
The earlier earthquakes had completely destroyed at least 11 villages in Herat province’s Zenda Jan district, as reported by the United Nations. Many Herat residents had been living in tents in the open air at night due to the fear of aftershocks following the weekend tremors.
Providing shelter to those affected on a large scale poses a significant challenge for the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, who took power in August 2021 and have complex relationships with international aid organizations.
Afghanistan has been prone to deadly earthquakes, but the weekend’s disaster was the most severe to hit the war-torn country in over 25 years.
Most homes in rural Afghanistan are constructed from mud and wooden support beams, lacking steel or concrete reinforcement. Typically, extended families live under one roof, making serious earthquakes especially devastating to these communities.
