HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Several historical monuments and cultural heritages have been damaged due to a series of devastating earthquakes and aftershocks that jolted west Afghanistan's Herat and the neighboring Badghis and Farah provinces, Herat's Provincial Director for Information and Culture Ahmadullah Muttaqi said on Thursday.
Identifying the damaged monuments, the official said that Qila Ikhtiarudin (Ikhtiarudin citadel), Herat's largest historic mosque Masjid Jami Herat and Minar Jam (the Minaret of Jam), are among the famous historical sites that have been damaged in the tremors.
Two deadly quakes, according to China Earthquake Networks Center, each with a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale, followed by several aftershocks, rocked west Afghanistan with an epicenter in the Zanda Jan district of Herat province on Saturday, leaving at least 2,053 dead and thousands more injured.
The quakes have also destroyed about 3,000 houses and properties in the western region of the war-torn country.
Another tremor measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted the quake-affected Herat on Wednesday, killing one person, injuring more than 150 others, and causing property damage.
"The cultural monuments are our cultural heritage, and their protection is our obligation," Ahmadullah Muttaqi told reporters.
Herat boasts more than 850 cultural monuments and historical sites, according to the official. ■
