A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck western Afghanistan on Wednesday, impacting an area where over 2,000 people perished in previous weekend tremors. The quake hit near Herat city at a shallow depth around 05:10 am local time, with its epicenter approximately 29 kilometers north of Herat.
Rescue efforts have been underway since the earlier quakes, which flattened villages and affected over 12,000 people. While local and national officials have conflicting casualty counts, the disaster ministry reported 2,053 fatalities.
The recent quake near Herat city caused no immediate new casualties. Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities face challenges providing shelter, and the country’s vulnerability to earthquakes is compounded by its dire humanitarian crisis and predominantly fragile mud-built homes.
Herat province, bordering Iran, houses around 1.9 million people and has been grappling with a long-standing drought.