At least 320 people have been killed after a series of powerful earthquaks hit western Afghanistan, the UN has said.
The epicentre of the original magnitude 6.3 earthquake was 24.8 miles (40km) north-west of the region’s largest city, Herat. It was followed by an aftershock with a 5.5 magnitude, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
Crowds of residents fled buildings in the city at about 11am as the quakes began, lasting for over an hour. There have been reports of landslides and people being trapped under buildings
“We were in our offices and suddenly the building started shaking,” 45-year-old Herat resident Bashir Ahmad told Agence-France Presse. “Wall plasters started to fall down and the walls got cracks, some walls and parts of the building collapsed.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The epicentre of the original magnitude 6.3 earthquake was 24.8 miles (40km) north-west of the region’s largest city, Herat.
“We were in our offices and suddenly the building started shaking,” 45-year-old Herat resident Bashir Ahmad told Agence-France Presse.
Social media videos showed hundreds of people in the streets outside their homes and offices in Herat city.
In June 2022, a powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, flattening stone and mud-brick homes.
The country is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
Afghanistan is already in the grip of a grinding humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
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