Afghan earthquake death toll reaches 2,000, according to Taliban officials

A senior Taliban leader estimated that 2,000 people had died as a result of strong earthquakes in western Afghanistan, and he added that the death toll could rise further as this was one of the deadliest quakes to strike the nation in 20 years.

 

The Taliban spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, who is based in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that following a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in the Herat province, numerous people were reported missing and rescue efforts were underway to free those buried beneath debris.

Shaheen said there was an urgent need for tents, medical and food items in the areas hit by the disaster, as he appealed to local businessmen and NGOs to come forward to help people in need.

Earlier, Abdul Wahid Rayan, spokesman at the Ministry of Information and Culture, told The Associated Press that more than 2,000 people were killed in the quake and strong aftershocks. About six villages have been destroyed and hundreds of civilians have been buried under the debris, he said, calling for urgent help.

The country’s national disaster authority said on Saturday the earthquake had killed about 100 people.

Later on Saturday, the United Nations gave a preliminary figure of 320 deaths. However, it later said the figure was still being verified, while the Red Crescent said 500 people were killed.

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit 40km (24 miles) northwest of the city of Herat at about 11am on Saturday (06:30 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Strong aftershocks were felt in the neighbouring Badghis and Farah provinces.

Widespread damage

In Herat city, resident Abdul Shakor Samadi said the quake was followed by at least five strong aftershocks at about noon.

“All people are out of their homes,” Samadi said. “Houses, offices and shops are all empty and there are fears of more earthquakes. My family and I were inside our home. I felt the quake.”

His family began shouting and ran outside, afraid to return indoors.

The USGS said the quake was followed by three strong aftershocks – magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5 – as well as weaker shocks.

Afghanistan’s disaster management authority spokesperson Mohammad Abdullah Jan said the quake and aftershocks damaged homes in four villages in the Zendeh Jan district in Herat province. There were also reports of widespread damage to houses in the Farah and Badghis provinces.

The World Health Organization unit in Afghanistan said it dispatched 12 ambulances to Zendeh Jan to shift wounded people to hospitals.

“As deaths & casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting treatment of wounded & assessing additional needs,” the UN agency said on X, previously known as Twitter. “WHO-supported ambulances are transporting those affected, most of them women and children.”

Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, offered his condolences to the victims’ families and those injured in the quake.

In June 2022, a powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, flattening stone and mud-brick homes. It was Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquake in two decades, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring about 1,500.