By Rukhshana Media
A powerful magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck the northwestern province of Badghis, killing 22 people, injuring four others, in one district alone, a Taliban official confirmed.
The World Seismological Center reported that the first earthquake at 4.00 pm with a magnitude of 4.9 and the second earthquake at 4.10 pm today with a magnitude of 5.6 shook Badghis and Herat provinces in western Afghanistan.
Maulawi Baz Mohammad Sarwari, the Taliban’s director of information and culture for Badghis province, told Rukhshana media that 22 people died, including five women and four children, and four others were injured in the incident.
According to him, they have information about casualties only from the Qadis district of Badghis province, and no report of deaths has been obtained from other districts. Sarwari said efforts were underway to help the affected people in the province.
On the other hand, Sanaullah Sabet, the head of the nursing ward at Badghis Provincial Hospital, said that about 30 people were killed and injured in the earthquake.
Akhtar Mohammad Hazin, financial and administrative director of the Badghis Department of Disaster Management, also said that at least 100 houses had been destroyed in the province following the earthquake.
Telephone lines were also cut off in Ab-e-Kamri, Jund, Muqar, and Qadis districts, which were the main epicenters of the quake.
