Herat
\nA magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Saturday killing 15 and injuring dozens more, officials said, predicting the toll could rise after reports of landslides and victims trapped under collapsed buildings.
\nThe United States Geological Survey said the epicentre was 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the region\u2019s largest city Herat, and was followed by seven aftershocks with magnitudes between 4.6 and 6.3.
\nCrowds of residents fled buildings in the city at around 11:00 am (0630 GMT) as the quakes began, lasting just under three hours.
\n\u201cWe were in our offices and suddenly the building started shaking,\u201d 45-year-old Herat resident Bashir Ahmad told AFP.
\n\u201cWall plasters started to fall down and the walls got cracks, some walls and parts of the building collapsed.\u201d \u201cI am not able to contact my family, network connections are disconnected.
\nI am too worried and scared, it was horrifying,\u201c he said.
\nMen, women and children stood out in the wide streets, away from tall buildings, in the moments after the first quake and remained wary of returning to homes as aftershocks continued.
\n\u201cThe situation was very horrible, I have never experienced such a thing,\u201d said 21-year-old student Idrees Arsala, the last to safely evacuate his classroom as the quakes began.
\nIn a video statement, National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mullah Jan Sayeq said \u201caround 40\u201d had been injured in tremors felt across three provinces, in addition to 15 killed.
\n\u201cThese are the preliminary numbers. There is the possibility the numbers could increase,\u201d he said.
\nEarlier in the day he told AFP there had been landslides in nearby rural and mountainous areas.
\nPublic health director of Herat province Mohammad Taleb Shahid put the fatality figure slightly lower at 14, with 78 injured, but agreed the tally would likely rise.
\n\u201cWe have information that people are buried under rubble,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u2018Significant casualties likely\u2019
\nHundreds of fatalities were possible, according to a USGS preliminary report. \u201cSignificant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,\u201d it said.
\nThe USGS had earlier reported the first quake\u2019s magnitude as 6.2. It had a shallow depth of just 14 kilometres, it said.
\nHerat \u2014 120 kilometres east of the border with Iran \u2014 is considered the cultural capital of Afghanistan.
\nIt is the capital of Herat province which is home to an estimated population of 1.9 million, according to 2019 World Bank data.
\nAfghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
\nIn June last year, more than 1,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless after a 5.9-magnitude quake \u2014 the deadliest in Afghanistan in nearly a quarter of a century \u2014 struck the impoverished province of Paktika.
\nIn March of this year, 13 people were killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by a magnitude 6.5 quake, which hit near Jurm in northeastern Afghanistan.
\nAfghanistan is already in the grip of a grinding humanitarian crisis, following the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Herat A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Saturday killing 15 and injuring dozens more, officials said, predicting the toll could rise after reports of landslides and victims trapped under collapsed buildings. The United States Geological Survey said the epicentre was 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the region\u2019s largest city Herat, and was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-360313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n