09-10-2023
Bureau Report + Agencies
KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: According to officials, the horrible earthquakes that hit western Afghanistan on Saturday killed or injured almost 4,000 people.
Additionally, the two 6.2-magnitude earthquakes completely demolished almost 2,000 houses, according to the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) on Monday.
During a press conference in Kabul on Monday, ANDMA spokesman Mullah Saiq stated, “So far, the statistics we have received regarding casualties exceed 4,000 people.”
“According to our data, in about 20 villages, approximately 1,980 to 2,000 houses have completely collapsed.”
The earthquakes affected Afghanistan’s Herat Province and surrounding areas on Saturday afternoon, with the first tremor striking at 11:10 a.m. local time (0640 GMT), according to media.
Following the incident, more than 1,000 rescuers from 35 different organizations are carrying out relief efforts in the impacted districts, according to the spokesman.
According to the Afghan Government, the earthquakes killed at least 2,400 people and injured many more, making them among the deadliest in the globe this year, after tremors in Turkey and Syria that killed an estimated 50,000 people.
Afghanistan’s acting Prime Minister, Mohammad Hasan Akhund, accompanied a group of officials to the damaged region in Herat Province on Monday.
Furthermore, China donated the Afghan Red Crescent with 200,000 USD in cash on Sunday as immediate humanitarian support to aid with its rescue and disaster relief activities.
Moreover, China on Sunday provided the Afghan Red Crescent with 200,000 US dollars in cash as emergency humanitarian assistance to aid its rescue and disaster relief efforts.