Magnitude 6.3 earthquake in northwestern Afghanistan causes fresh damage – Afghan officials

KABUL, Afghanistan – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan’s western province of Herat on Wednesday, October 11, forcing authorities to redeploy relief and rescue teams already in the field following a series of deadly quakes on Saturday.

There were no early details on casualties caused by the latest earthquake, disaster management spokesman Janan Sayeeq told Reuters.

Herat’s governor’s office said in a statement that some districts adjoining areas that had been completely flattened by earlier quakes had suffered “huge losses.”

Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government estimated that at least 2,400 people perished and more than 2,000 were injured when multiple earthquakes leveled thousands of homes northwest of the city of Herat days earlier.

“Mobile medical teams and officials have been working together and have transferred several injured people to hospital,” the governor’s office said.

The German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said the latest quake was magnitude 6.3, and occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.21 miles). – Rappler.com