6.3-magnitude quake kills one in Afghanistan; prisoners released as jails at risk of collapsing

HERAT, Afghanistan - A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook western Afghanistan on Sunday, killing one and injuring dozens in the same region where more than 1,000 people died in tremors last week.

Residents in the city of Herat had just begun returning to their homes when the quake hit, after days of sleeping outside as they feared aftershocks from last week’s tremors.

“Herat’s people are panicked and scared,” said 27-year-old shopkeeper Hamid Nizami. “It’s Allah’s blessing that it happened during the day; people were awake.”

Sunday’s quake hit just after 8am with an epicentre 33km north-west of Herat city, capital of the western Herat province, and was followed by aftershocks of magnitudes 5.4 and 4.2, the United States Geological Survey said.

Dr Abdul Qadeem Mohammadi, head doctor at Herat Regional Hospital, told AFP that “so far, 93 injured and one dead have been registered”.

National disaster management officials said they were still investigating the scale of destruction.

Another 6.3-magnitude quake and eight powerful aftershocks jolted the same part of Herat on Oct 7, toppling swathes of rural homes.

The Taliban government said more than 1,000 people were killed in last week’s tremors, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) put the figure at nearly 1,400 late on Saturday.

Another tremor of the same intensity killed one person and injured 130 others days after the initial quakes, as thousands of terrified residents were left without shelter and volunteers dug for survivors.

The quakes were also followed by dust storms which damaged the tents that survivors were living in.

“Many of our countrymen don’t have any place to live and nights are getting colder,” said shopkeeper Nizami.

On Sunday, officials said more than 528 prisoners had been released from Herat province and neighbouring Badghis province because jails “were in danger of collapsing” from quake damage.

The Prisons Administration Authority said prisoners who were freed included those who had served large portions of their sentences and showed signs of reform.

‘Can’t live here’

WHO says nearly 20,000 people have been affected by the string of disasters, with women and children making up most of the fatalities.

Thousands of residents are now living around the ruins of homes where entire families were wiped out in an instant.

Mr Mohammad Naeem, 40, told AFP he lost 12 relatives, including his mother, after last week’s quakes.

“We can’t live here any more. You can see, our family got martyred here. How could we live here?”

Earthquakes are frequent in western and central Afghanistan, and are mostly caused by the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates jutting against each other.

Providing shelter on a large scale will be a challenge for Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, who seized power in August 2021 and have fractious relations with international aid organisations.

Public Health Minister Qalandar Ebad said: “We know they could live there in tents for one month, but more than that would probably be very difficult.”

Most homes in rural Afghanistan are made of mud and built around wooden support poles, with little in the way of steel or concrete reinforcement.

Multi-generational families generally live under the same roof, meaning serious earthquakes can devastate communities.

Afghanistan is already suffering a dire humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid following the Taliban government’s return to power. AFP