<\/p>\n
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Saturday causing one death and dozens of injuries, officials said, predicting the toll could rise amid reports of landslides and building collapses.<\/p>\n
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicentre was 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the region\u2019s largest city of Herat, and was followed by five aftershocks with magnitudes of 5.5<\/a>, 4.7, 6.3, 5.9<\/a> and 4.6.<\/p>\n Crowds of residents and shopkeepers fled buildings in the city at around 11am (6:30am GMT) as the quakes began, causing 25 injuries and a single fatality, according to a Taliban government spokesman.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were in our offices and suddenly the building started shaking,\u201d 45-year-old Herat resident Bashir Ahmad told AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWall plasters started to fall down and the walls got cracks, some walls and parts of the building collapsed.\u201d \u201cI am not able to contact my family, network connections are disconnected. I am too worried and scared, it was horrifying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mullah Jan Sayeq told AFP<\/em> the initial toll was \u201cpreliminary\u201d and he feared it would rise as \u201cin the rural and mountainous areas there have been landslides as well\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently, we don\u2019t have all the information and details,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Crowds of women and children stood out in the wide streets of Herat, away from tall buildings, in the moments after the first quake and aftershocks which continued for roughly one hour.<\/p>\n Hundreds of fatalities were possible, according to a USGS preliminary report.<\/p>\n \u201cSignificant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n USGS had earlier reported the first quake\u2019s magnitude as 6.2. It had a shallow depth of just 14km, it said.<\/p>\n Herat \u2014 120km east of the border with Iran \u2014 is considered the cultural capital of Afghanistan. It is the capital of Herat province which is home to an estimated population of 1.9 million, according to 2019 World Bank data.<\/p>\n In June last year, more than 1,000 people were killed<\/a> and tens of thousands made homeless after a 5.9-magnitude quake \u2014 the deadliest in Afghanistan in nearly a quarter of a century \u2014 struck the impoverished province of Paktika.<\/p>\n In March of this year, 13 people were killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by a magnitude 6.5 quake<\/a>, which hit near Jurm in northeastern Afghanistan.<\/p>\n The country is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.<\/p>\n Afghanistan is already in the grip of a grinding humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid since the Taliban returned to power<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\u2018Disaster potentially widespread\u2019<\/h2>\n