A chain of seven powerful earthquakes shake the province of Herat, western Afghanistan

A chain of seven earthquakes with a preliminary magnitude between 4.7 and up to 6.10 degrees shook the province of Herat this morning. Five of them have occurred consecutively in less than an hour, as reported by the United States Geological Survey.

For the moment, the tremors have left at least fifteen dead and dozens injured, indicated the authorities, who expect the toll to increase as a result of landslides and building collapses.

The earthquakes, described as "remarkable" magnitude by the USGS, have taken place in the Afghan province of Herat, in the northwest of the country, in a radius of approximately 50 kilometers.

The tremors have been especially felt in the town of Zendejan, a town of about 10,000 inhabitants in the valley of the Hari Rud river.

The first, the largest, occurred at 12:11 (+5:30 GMT) at a depth of 14 kilometers and 33 kilometers from the city of Zindah Jan, located in the province of Herat, according to the USGS.

Four consecutive aftershocks of 5.5 followed; 4.7; 6.3; and 5.9 respectively in a period of one hour, according to USGS data.

The fourth earthquake, also of magnitude 6.3, was recorded about ten kilometers deep and about 29 kilometers from Zindah Jan.

Later, the US seismology service felt two more tremors almost an hour later in Herat province of 4.8 and 4.9 degrees, respectively.

To Zindah Khan, the epicenter of the tragedy and the most affected area, twelve ambulances from the World Health Organization office in Afghanistan have been deployed to help with the evacuation and rescue of victims, the international organization announced in X, formerly Twitter.

"The trauma team is on alert and they are working with trauma doctors at Herat Regional Hospital," he added.

Week of earthquakes in Afghanistan, Nepal and India

These earthquakes occur the same week in which Afghanistan, Nepal and India recorded five consecutive earthquakes between 2.5 and 6.2 magnitude.

The one that shook Afghanistan was 4.7, reported last Tuesday at a depth of 10 kilometers in the city of Fayzabad, in western Afghanistan, according to the National Center for Seismology of India (NCS, in English).

Afghanistan is among the countries most prone to natural disasters and has a very vulnerable population, mostly poor, in addition to lacking sufficient infrastructure to deal with floods or earthquakes.

At the end of June last year, a similar earthquake of magnitude 5.9 in the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktika and Khost, bordering Pakistan, caused the death of more than a thousand people and injured some 1,500, in addition to the destruction of hundreds of homes. .

The Asian country also suffered one of the largest disasters caused by earthquakes in 1998 in the north of the country, when in February two earthquakes of magnitude 5.9 and 6 caused the death of some 4,000 people. A few months later, at the end of May, another magnitude 7 earthquake hit the area again and caused around 5,000 deaths.