At least 2,000 people have died and dozens more left injured after earthquakes struck Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman claimed.
The updated figure makes it one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades.
A powerful magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck Herat, destroying six villages and leaving hundreds of civilians buried under debris, said Abdul Wahid Rayan, spokesman of the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The United Nations (UN) gave a preliminary figure of 320 dead, but later said the figure was still being verified.
Local authorities gave an estimate of 100 people killed and 500 injured, according to the same update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The update also said 465 houses had been reported destroyed and a further 135 were damaged.
“Partners and local authorities anticipate the number of casualties to increase as search and rescue efforts continue amid reports that some people may be trapped under collapsed buildings,” the UN said.
Disaster authority spokesperson Mohammad Abdullah Jan said four villages in the Zenda Jan district in Herat province bore the brunt of the quake and aftershocks.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicentre was about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Herat city.
It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.
The World Health Organisation in Afghanistan said it dispatched 12 ambulance cars to Zenda Jan to evacuate casualties to hospitals.
“As deaths & casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting treatment of wounded & assessing additional needs,” the UN agency said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“WHO-supported ambulances are transporting those affected, most of them women and children.”
Telephone connections went down in Herat, making it hard to get details from affected areas. Videos on social media showed hundreds of people in the streets outside their homes and offices in Herat city.
Herat province borders Iran. The quake also was felt in the nearby Afghan provinces of Farah and Badghis, according to local media reports.
Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, expressed his condolences to the dead and injured in Herat and Badghis.
The Taliban urged local organisations to reach earthquake-hit areas as soon as possible to help take the injured to hospital, provide shelter for the homeless, and deliver food to survivors.
They said security agencies should use all their resources and facilities to rescue people trapped under debris.
“We ask our wealthy compatriots to give any possible cooperation and help to our afflicted brothers,” the Taliban said on X.
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.
