Third strong earthquake to strike Afghanistan in a week; one person killed, many injured
In the same area where more than 1,000 people perished in earthquakes last week, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake rocked western Afghanistan on Sunday, killing one person and wounding scores more. After spending days sleeping outdoors in anticipation of aftershocks from last week’s earthquakes, residents of the city of Herat had just started to return to their homes when the earthquake struck.
The epicentre of Sunday’s earthquake, which had an epicenter 33 kilometers northwest of Herat city, the capital of the same western province, according to the US Geological Survey, occurred at 8:00 am (local time). It was followed by aftershocks with magnitudes 5.4 and 4.2. One of the most severe earthquakes in the nation’s recent history, the quakes on October 7 completely demolished towns near Herat. According to U.N. authorities, more than 90% of those slain a week ago were women and children.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the death toll from last week’s earthquakes at close to 1,400 as of late Saturday. The Taliban-led government claimed that more than 1,000 people perished. Days after the original quakes, a second earthquake of the same severity struck, leaving hundreds of scared inhabitants without shelter as volunteers looked for survivors, killing one person and injuring 130 others.
Inmates from Herat and the neighboring Badghis provinces were freed on Sunday, according to authorities, since the prisons “were in danger of collapsing” due to earthquake damage. According to the Prisons Administration Authority, individuals who were released included those who had completed a significant part of their terms and shown indications of improvement.
AFFECTED 20,000 PEOPLE
According to the WHO, the series of catastrophes has touched approximately 20,000 people, with women and children making up the majority of the deaths. The remains of houses where whole families perished instantly are today surrounded by thousands of people.
The Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates rubbing up against one other are the main cause of the frequent earthquakes that occur in western and central Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Afghanistan, which took control in August 2021 and has strained connections with Western humanitarian organizations, would have difficulties in providing shelter on a wide scale.
In rural Afghanistan, the majority of houses are composed of mud and constructed around wooden support poles with minimal steel or concrete reinforcement. Since extended families with many generations sometimes share one roof, devastating earthquakes may wreak havoc on whole towns. Following the Taliban’s restoration to power in August 2021, the landlocked and war-torn nation would already be experiencing a severe humanitarian catastrophe as a result of the massive withdrawal of Western assistance.
