THE death toll from strong earthquakes that shook western Afghanistan has risen to more than 2,000, a Taliban government spokesman said today.

It is one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades.

A powerful magnitude 6.3 earthquake followed by strong aftershocks killed dozens of people on Saturday, the country’s national disaster authority said.

But Ministry of Information and Culture spokesperson Abdul Wahid Rayan said the death toll in Herat is higher than originally reported. 

Six villages have been destroyed and hundreds of civilians have been buried under the debris, he said, while calling for urgent help.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicentre was about 25 miles north-west of Herat city. 

The initial quake was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.

Herat resident Abdul Shakor Samadi said: “All people are out of their homes. Houses, offices and shops are all empty and there are fears of more earthquakes. My family and I were inside our home, I felt the quake.”

The World Health Organisation in Afghanistan said it had dispatched 12 ambulance cars to Zenda Jan to evacuate casualties to hospitals.

They said on the X social media platform: “As deaths & casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting treatment of wounded & assessing additional needs.”

“WHO-supported ambulances are transporting those affected, most of them women and children.”

The Taliban sent a message to local authorities to use all their resources and facilities to rescue people who may still be trapped under collapsed debris.

In June 2022, a powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, flattening stone and mud-brick homes. The quake killed at least 1,000 people and injured about 1,500.