- For the first time in just a few days, the province of Herat on the border with Iran has been shaken by a severe earthquake.
- According to the US Earthquake Observatory USGS, the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3 on Sunday morning and occurred around 30 kilometers northwest of the city of Herat at a depth of six kilometers.
- At least two people were killed, according to the region’s main hospital. At least 154 people were injured.
- The earth also shook on Sunday in southwestern Iran.
The number of dead and injured is likely to rise, a local official said, as hospitals are still waiting for victims from more remote areas. According to the US Earthquake Observatory, a second earthquake of magnitude 5.5 followed just a few minutes after the first tremors.
Herat is the second largest city in Afghanistan after Kabul and is located in the border province of the same name near Iran. The earthquakes were also felt there on Sunday, as residents of the city of Mashad, about 300 kilometers away, reported.
The earth also shook on Sunday in southwestern Iran. As the US Earthquake Observatory announced, the magnitude 5.3 quake occurred at a depth of around ten kilometers. There were initially no reports of damage or casualties in the Gulf area near Iraq.
Previous quakes have already claimed countless lives
Last weekend, several earthquakes shook western Afghanistan within a short period of time. The US earthquake monitoring station put the magnitude at values between 4.6 and 6.3. According to media reports citing official statistics, almost 2,500 people were killed. More than 2,000 people were injured. The UN emergency relief agency OCHA had put the death toll at more than 1,000. According to the United Nations, the dead are mainly children and women.
Legend:
A woman stands in front of her destroyed house in the Herat region (10/12/23).
EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
There are frequent severe earthquakes in the region where the Arabian, Indian and Eurasian plates meet. A particularly devastating earthquake in Afghanistan killed more than 1,000 people in 2022. In the impoverished country, which has been marked by decades of bloody fighting, many houses are poorly built. Earthquakes therefore often cause major damage.