Death toll of quakes soars to 2,053 in Afghanistan, officials call for assistance

HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of the earthquakes in western Afghanistan has risen to 2,053, a spokesman for the national disaster authority, Mullah Janan Shaeq, said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference in Herat, the official noted that 9,240 others were injured and 1,340 houses were destroyed in the earthquakes that shook Herat and the neighboring Badghis and Farah provinces on Saturday.

The most affected area is the Zanda Jan district in Herat, where, according to the official, 13 villages were "utterly destroyed."

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, two earthquakes both with a magnitude of 6.2 jolted Afghanistan on Saturday, followed by several aftershocks.

The first tremor occurred around 11:10 local time (0640 GMT), forcing local residents to leave their houses, locals said.

International organizations and local authorities have sent rescue teams to the affected areas. Local authorities have provided drinking medicine, water, food, blankets and tents to the affected families.

In the meantime, rescue teams have been going all out to find survivors under debris as locals believe that the number of casualties could go up.

Herat's provincial governor, Noor Ahmad Islamjar, besides expressing sympathy to the affected families, assured that they would spare no effort to help people in the quake-affected areas.

Afghan officials, including Mawlawi Matiul Haq Khalis, acting head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society and Mufti Ashrafi, the head of the coordination committee of non-government organizations (NGOs), visited the quake-affected areas and called on Afghan and foreign aid agencies to offer support to affected families.