Death toll of earthquakes in Afghanistan rises to 2,445

HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from earthquakes in western Afghanistan's Herat and neighboring provinces has risen to 2,445, Herat authorities said Sunday night.

The most affected area is the Zanda Jan district in Herat, where 13 villages have been "utterly destroyed," said Mawlawi Musa Ashari, Herat's provincial director for the National Disaster Management Authority.

Earlier on the same day, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, Mullah Janan Shaeq, said more than 9,200 people had been injured during the quakes.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.2 jolted Afghanistan on Saturday. The first tremor occurred at around 11:10 local time (0640 GMT).