Afghan men remove debris after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, of western Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. Powerful earthquakes killed at least 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday. It's one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades. ISLAMABAD — Powerful earthquakes killed at least 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was about 40 kilometers northwest of Herat city. It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks. FILE - An aerial view of the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan, Monday, June 5, 2023. Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, the country's national disaster authority said. Abdul Wahid Rayan, a spokesman at the Ministry of Information and Culture, said Sunday the death toll is higher than originally reported.
Doctors Without Borders set up five medical tents at Herat Regional Hospital to accommodate up to 80 patients. Authorities have treated more than 300 patients, according to the agency. UNICEF dispatched thousands of supplies, including winter clothes, blankets and tarpaulins as temperatures dropped. Photographer Omid Haqjoo visited four villages in Zenda Jan on Sunday morning. He reported seeing bodies under collapsed houses and locals waiting for help, lacking shovels to dig out bodies. Some aid groups, like the World Food Program, were already on the scene with essential items.Afghans stand in a courtyard of their destroyed homes after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, of western Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.
China’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Zhao Xing, said his government and the country’s charitable institutions were ready to provide all kinds of help. “We are in contact with Afghan government aid agencies to provide aid to the needy,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.