HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct 9 (NNN-ANA) – The death toll of the earthquakes in western Afghanistan has risen to 2,053, a spokesman for the national disaster authority, Mullah Janan Shaeq, said, last night.
Addressing a press conference in Herat, the official noted that 9,240 others were injured and 1,340 houses were destroyed in the earthquakes, on Saturday.
The most affected area is the Zanda Jan district in Herat, where, according to the official, 13 villages were “utterly destroyed.”
According to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, two earthquakes, both with a magnitude of 6.2 jolted Afghanistan on Saturday, followed by several aftershocks.
The first tremor occurred around 11:10 local time (0640 GMT), forcing local residents to leave their houses, locals said.
International organisations and local authorities sent rescue teams to the affected areas. Local authorities provided drinking medicine, water, food, blankets and tents to the affected families.
In the meantime, rescue teams have been going all out to find survivors under the debris, as locals believe that the number of casualties could go up.
Herat’s provincial governor, Noor Ahmad Islamjar, besides expressing sympathy to the affected families, assured that, they would spare no effort to help people in the quake-affected areas.
Afghan officials, including Mawlawi Matiul Haq Khalis, acting head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society and Mufti Ashrafi, head of the coordination committee of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), visited the quake-affected areas and called on Afghan and foreign aid agencies to offer support to affected families.– NNN-ANA
