An earthquake measuring 6.3 has caused dozens of deaths in Afghanistan. International news agencies report this. In an initial update, the United Nations spoke of 320 deaths, which was later adjusted to more than a hundred, based on local authorities. Another five hundred people are said to have been injured.
The epicenter of the earthquake was forty kilometers from the city of Herat, in the northwest of the country near the border with Iran. Dozens of houses were reportedly damaged in and around the city. After the first earthquake, several powerful aftershocks followed. Because many people had already left their homes and offices, further casualties were prevented.
International aid organizations have sent ambulances and tents to the affected area. Because electricity has been out in a large part of the area, the actual scale of the disaster is not yet fully clear.
Afghanistan is hit by earthquakes more often. In June 2022, at least a thousand people were killed when a major earthquake hit a mountainous area in the east of the country. It was one of the strongest earthquakes in twenty years.