KABUL: At least 813 people have been killed and over 1,000 others injured in a strong earthquake that struck Afghan western Herat province.
The province's Natural Disaster Management Department said that rescue operations are ongoing in the areas affected by the earthquake and that the number of victims may rise.
According to initial reports, the victims were mostly in the Zendeh Jan and Ghurian districts of Herat.
Herat's provincial director for the National Disaster Management Authority Mawlawi Musa Ashari told Pajhwoknews agency that 12 villages in the Zendeh Jan and Ghurian districts were completely destroyed, and 600 people were injured.
An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck northwest Afghanistan on Saturday, followed by violent aftershocks.
In June 2022, more than 1,000 people were killed and tens of thousands were displaced as a result of a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Paktika province, the strongest in nearly a quarter of a century in Afghanistan.
