1697024666 A magnitude 63 earthquake shakes Afghanistan

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake shakes Afghanistan

Kabul (AFP) – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck western Afghanistan on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported, in an area where more than 2,000 people died after a similar quake over the weekend.

First change: October 11, 2023 – 10:44 a.m. Last change: October 11, 2023 – 10:42 a.m

Debris of houses destroyed in the Oct. 7 earthquake in Wardaja village of Herat province in a picture taken Oct. 10, 2023, in western Afghanistan

Debris of houses destroyed by the October 7 earthquake in Wardaja village, Herat province, in a picture taken on October 10, 2023 in western Afghanistan © Mohsen Karimi / AFP

The shallow quake was recorded at 5:10 a.m. (0040 GMT), with the epicenter 18 miles (29 km) north of the city of Herat, the USGS said.

No new victims were initially reported in Wednesday’s earthquake near Harat, a city of more than half a million people.

Meanwhile, volunteers and rescuers have been busy since Saturday searching for survivors of the previous series of earthquakes, which the UN said destroyed entire cities and affected more than 12,000 people.

Local and national authorities give different figures on the number of deaths and injuries in previous earthquakes, but the disaster ministry said 2,053 people died.