AFGHANISTAN: Twin earthquakes of magnitude 5.3 have hit western Afghanistan, with 26 people reportedly dead on Monday, according to local officials. At least 12 people were initially killed in the earthquake in Badghis Province in western Afghanistan, but it was later reported that the death toll reaching 26.
But reports that two earthquakes in western Afghanistan killed at least 22 people, quoting a local official.
There were fears the death toll could rise further in Badghis province along the border with Turkmenistan, one of Afghanistan’s most impoverished regions.
The victims were said to have died when roofs of their houses collapsed in Qadis district in the western province of Badghis, according to spokesman for the province Baz Mohammad Sarwary. He said five women and four children were among the 26 people who died, as the quake inflicted damage on the residents of Muqr district in the province. Sarwari, who is the Taliban’s cultural director in Badghis, told the daily Al-Itteha Rooz that only 15 people had been killed in the village of Badruk in Qades district.
Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
– NDTV