(VOVWORLD) - More than 2,400 people were killed by earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban said Sunday, in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone country in years.
 A dead baby is pulled out of the rubble of the earthquake. (Photo: Reuters) |
Janan Sayeeq, the spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Disaster Management, said the number of deaths is expected to rise as rescue teams continue to search for missing individuals in the debris, adding that ten rescue teams were in the area.
The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Afghanistan frequently experiences earthquakes, particularly in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies close to the intersection of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.
In June last year, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Paktika province, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.