Afghanistan lowers quake death toll to 1,000

By : AFP

Date: 11 October 2023 2:40pm WAT

Medical personnel attend a wounded victim after earthquake in Herat on October 11, 2023. - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck western Afghanistan on October 11, claiming at least one life and causing panic among residents already traumatised by a series of tremors that killed around 2,000 people at the weekend. (Photo by AFP)

Afghan authorities on Wednesday significantly lowered the death toll from a series of quakes that struck western Herat at the weekend to around 1,000.
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The Taliban government had originally said over 2,000 people had been killed in Saturday’s magnitude 6.3 quake, centred on rural communities northwest of Herat city.

The initial quake was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks.

Public Health Minister Qalandar Ebad on Wednesday lowered the toll to around 1,000, attributing the confusion to the remoteness of the area and double reporting by agencies involved in the rescue effort.
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“We have over 1,000 people martyred from the first incident,” Ebad told reporters in Kabul.

Another earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck Wednesday morning in the same area, where thousands were spending a fourth night in the open.