Another quake strikes western Afghanistan; official says more homes destroyed
11-Oct-2023
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Another quake strikes western Afghanistan; official says more homes destroyed
(REUTERS )
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake rattled Afghanistan's western province of Herat on Wednesday, forcing authorities to redeploy relief and rescue teams already in the field following a series of deadly quakes on Saturday.
There were no details on casualties so far, disaster management spokesman Janan Sayeeq told Reuters, but provincial officials said hundreds of homes had been destroyed.
The office of Herat's governor said some areas had suffered "huge losses", without giving details.
"Mobile medical teams and officials have been working together and have transferred several injured people to hospital," the governor's office said in a statement.
Saturday's tremors killed at least 2,400 people and injured more than 2,000, the Taliban-run government said, making the quakes one of the deadliest in the world so far this year.
Most of the casualties in that quake were women and children, the World Health Organisation said.
The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said the latest quake was a magnitude 6.3, and occurred at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles).
Hemmed in by mountains, Afghanistan has a history of strong earthquakes, many in the rugged Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan. Herat province borders Iran, which said it would send humanitarian aid.
In the central district of Rubat Sangi, which was rattled by Saturday's quakes, at least 200 homes were partially or completely destroyed, Governor Noor Ahmad Shahab said, adding that residents had suffered "huge financial losses".
