Taliban officials call for urgent help as rescues try to recover people trapped in debris in the wake of magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Herat province.

Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban spokesperson based in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that many people are missing and rescue operations are under way to recover people trapped in debris in the wake of magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Herat province.

Shaheen said that there is an urgent need for tents, medical and food items in the areas hit by the disaster, as he appealed local businessmen and NGOs to come forward to help people in need.

Earlier, Abdul Wahid Rayan, spokesman at the Ministry of Information and Culture, told Associated Press that more than 2,000 people were dead in the quake and strong aftershocks. About six villages have been destroyed, and hundreds of civilians have been buried under the debris, he said while calling for urgent help.

The country’s national disaster authority said on Saturday that the earthquake killed about 100 people.

The United Nations late on Saturday gave a preliminary figure of 320 dead, but later said the figure was still being verified, while the Red Crescent said 500 people were killed.

The multiple quakes on Saturday hit 40 km (24 miles) northwest of the city of Herat at about 11am on Saturday (06:30 GMT), with one measuring magnitude 6.3, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. Strong aftershocks were felt in the neighbouring Badghis and Farah provinces.

In Herat city, resident Abdul Shakor Samadi said the quake was followed by at least five strong tremors at about noon on Saturday (07:30 GMT).

“All people are out of their homes,” Samadi said. “Houses, offices and shops are all empty and there are fears of more earthquakes. My family and I were inside our home, I felt the quake.”

His family began shouting and ran outside, afraid to return indoors.

The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicentre was about 40km northwest of Herat city. It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5 as well as lesser shocks.

Disaster authority spokesperson Mohammad Abdullah Jan said that the quake and aftershocks damaged homes in four villages in the Zenda Jan district in Herat province. There were also reports of widespread damage to houses in the Farah and Badges provinces.

The World Health Organization in Afghanistan said it dispatched 12 ambulances to Zenda Jan to evacuate casualties to hospitals.

“As deaths & casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting treatment of wounded & assessing additional needs,” the UN agency said on X. “WHO-supported ambulances are transporting those affected, most of them women and children.”

Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, expressed his condolences to the dead and injured in Herat and Badghis.

The Taliban urged local organisations to reach earthquake-hit areas as soon as possible to help take the injured to hospital, provide shelter for the homeless and deliver food to survivors. They said security agencies should use all their resources and facilities to rescue people trapped under debris.

“We ask our wealthy compatriots to give any possible cooperation and help to our afflicted brothers,” the Taliban said on X.

In June 2022, a powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, flattening stone and mud-brick homes. The quake was Afghanistan’s deadliest in two decades, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring about 1,500.

This is a breaking story. More to follow.