Disasters & Accidents

At least 1 killed, 35 wounded as twin earthquakes strike again in western Afghanistan

Kabul, Oct 15 (EFE).- At least one person was killed and 35 wounded on Sunday after two consecutive earthquakes, with respective magnitudes of 6.5 and 5.4 according to the United States Geological Service, struck western Afghanistan, an area where over a thousand people have been killed in a series of tremors since Oct. 7.

“So far the the initial information shows that one person was killed and 35 others wounded in today’s earthquake,” Nisar Ahmad Elyas, the spokesperson of the governor of the Herat province, told EFE.

The first 6.5-magnitude earthquake was registered in the province at around 8 am at a depth of 6.3 kilometers and around 30 kilometers north of the provincial capital Herat city, according to the USGS.

Barely half an hour later, a second 5.4-magnitude tremor struck in the same province, this time around 10 kilometers north of the capital.

The Afghan province had been hit by a series of earthquakes of up to 6.3-magnitude on Oct. 7, followed by aftershocks of considerable intensity, which have destroyed around 20 towns.

Although the interim Taliban government had initially reported over 2,400 deaths and around 2,000 people being injured, its disaster management ministry reduced the death toll to around 1,000 earlier this week.

The lack of coordination between the Taliban government and humanitarian organizations has complicated the emergency response and distribution of aid to those affected by the earthquake, while many residents of Herat have taken to sleeping in open-air due to the fear of aftershocks, with limited access to running water and food. EFE

lk-daa/ia

Related Articles

Back to top button