1 dead as new quake shakes western Afghanistan

HERAT, Afghanistan — A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck western Afghanistan on Wednesday, claiming at least one life and causing panic among residents already traumatized by a series of tremors that killed around 1,000 people over the weekend.

The quake at dawn hit around 30 kilometers north of the provincial capital of Herat, where thousands were spending a fourth night in the open after Saturday's quakes flattened their villages.

"It's horrible. The whole of Herat is terrified," Abdul Qudos, 32, said. "We are so scared that even when we see the trees moving (in the wind), we think it's another earthquake coming."

At least one person was killed and 120 injured by the latest quake, said Abdul Zahir Noorzai, ambulance manager for Herat Regional Hospital.

"The people in these (rural) areas were living outside their homes which are already destroyed", but were hit by fresh falling debris from unstable ruins, he said.

The quake was followed by aftershocks measuring 5.0 and 4.1, but a reporter with Agence France-Presse said damage in Herat city — home to more than half a million — was minimal.

Many residents have camped in tents, cars and gardens since Saturday's magnitude-6.3 quake and a series of powerful aftershocks.

"Our children are so scared that they stay awake until the morning. They don't sleep," 40-year-old Aziz Ahmad said.

At Herat Regional Hospital, patients were being treated in an outdoor courtyard. Ambulances were arriving on Wednesday morning, but most injuries appeared to be minor.

Volunteers have been digging for survivors and bodies from the earlier quakes, which entirely destroyed at least six villages in rural Zenda Jan district and affected more than 12,000 people, the United Nations said.

On Wednesday, Afghan authorities significantly lowered the death toll from a series of quakes that struck western Herat during the weekend to around 1,000.

"We have over 1,000 people killed from the first incident," Public Health Minister Qalandar Ebad told reporters in Kabul, attributing the confusion to the remoteness of the area and double reporting by agencies involved in the rescue effort.

Agencies Via Xinhua