Death Toll from Afghanistan Quake Rise to 2,200

A powerful 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan on Friday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which reported the tremor occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The quake comes less than 24 hours after another tremor shook the same region on Thursday evening, as confirmed by Germany’s Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences. The scale of the new damage has not yet been determined.

Friday’s earthquake is the fourth major tremor to hit Afghanistan since last Sunday, when a 6.0-magnitude quake devastated parts of the country, causing widespread destruction and killing hundreds.

On Tuesday, a 5.5-magnitude aftershock triggered panic and further hampered rescue efforts as landslides cut off key roads.

Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat announced on Thursday that the death toll from Sunday’s disaster had risen to 2,205, up from earlier estimates of 1,400, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters to strike Afghanistan in decades.

Rescue operations remain ongoing, with tents set up for survivors and emergency aid supplies being distributed to affected communities.

Afghanistan is highly prone to seismic activity due to its location on the fault lines where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates converge, leaving the country vulnerable to frequent and devastating earthquakes.