14 Killed & 78 Injured After Earthquake Rocks Herat

Media reports indicated that at least 14 people had been killed and 78 others had been injured after an earthquake struck Herat province of Afghanistan.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 shook northwest Afghanistan, including Herat, on Saturday.

Nisar Ahmad Elias, Taliban’s spokesperson for the governor of Herat, said that the earthquake on Saturday left "huge human and financial losses" and so far, dozens of wounded have been transferred to the Herat regional hospital.

He added that the earthquake started around 11AM and shook Herat city and the districts of the province. He added that the group is fully prepared to assist those affected by the earthquake.

Earlier, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul declared its readiness to receive and channel international aid to the earthquake victims in Herat, in line with humanitarian cooperation.

The exact number of casualties and damage caused by the earthquake has not yet been published. However, some social media users have published pictures of the Herat Grand Mosque and some residential houses, which show that a part of one of the mosque's minarets has suffered damages and its tiles have fallen.

Pictures published of residential houses show that the brick walls have collapsed and in one of these pictures, a taxi is under the rubble.

On Saturday, several earthquakes shook western Afghanistan, according to the US Geological Survey, the magnitude of the first and largest was 6.3.

According to the report, some of the aftershocks of the earthquake had magnitudes of 5.5, 4.7 and 5.9, the last of which occurred 35 kilometres northwest of Herat city.

The German Geological Centre has announced the first earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2.

Pictures received by Afghanistan International show that the residents of Herat of Afghanistan and Mashhad of Iran [capital of Khorasan Razavi province of Iran which is in the border with Herat] gathered in the streets after the earthquake.

Images show crowds of people who have left their homes and escaped to the streets.