A new earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, struck the city of Herat, in the northwest of Afghanistan, on Sunday October 15, the American Geophysics Institute (USGS) said. A devastating earthquake and several tremors already hit this region earlier this month.
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No respite in northwest Afghanistan. This time, the earthquake occurred at 8:06 a.m. local time (3:36 a.m. UT). The epicenter is located 33 kilometers from the city of Herat, in the province of the same name. The American Geophysical Institute (USGS) recorded a magnitude of 6.3 with an aftershock about twenty minutes later recorded at 5.4 on the Richter scale.
It was there, on October 7, that entire villages were destroyed in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake, causing more than 1,000 deaths, the toll having been revised downwards, including 90% women and children, according to Unicef. “ Women and children are often at home, caring for household chores and children, so when a structure collapses, they are most at risk. “, said Siddig Ibrahim, an agency manager in Herat, quoted by AFP. Another major earthquake, October 11whose epicenter was detected around 30 kilometers north of Herat, had created panic in a traumatized population and left at least one dead and around a hundred injured.
Junction point of tectonic plates
Afghanistan frequently experiences earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, near the junction between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. In June 2022, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake left more than a thousand dead and tens of thousands homeless in the poor province of Paktika, in the southeast of the country.
Since the tremors, thousands of people have been sleeping outside, in cars, gardens or tents, their homes having been reduced to dust. But in this region where the nights are very cold, refugees will not be able to stay in tents for more than a month, say humanitarians.
Afghanistan is already suffering from a serious humanitarian crisis, with the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid since the Taliban’s return to power. Providing shelter in large quantities, as winter approaches, will be a challenge for the Taliban authorities, who took power in August 2021 and have tense relations with international aid organizations.
(With AFP)
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