Massive Earthquake Kills over 2,400 in Northwest Afghanistan

Breitbart.com reports: “Afghanistan was struck by its deadliest earthquake in years on Sunday, with more than 2,400 casualties reported at last count from the northwestern city of Herat and its surrounding province.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) rated the quake at magnitude 6.3 and said its epicenter was in the rural district of Zindajan, about 20 miles northwest of Herat.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said ‘one hundred percent of homes are estimated to have been completely destroyed’ in Zindajan. Herat itself suffered relatively minor damage to its ancient minarets. Eyewitnesses said one reason the disaster response was slow for rural communities was that Herat was left largely intact and, since cellphone service was out, rescuers in Herat did not immediately realize how badly damaged the surrounding villages were. 

The Taliban regime struggled to produce solid estimates of how many people were killed, or even how many people live in Zindajan, since its population includes a large number of displaced persons…”

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