This photo taken on Oct. 10, 2023 shows the damaged dwellings following earthquakes in Herat Province, west Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
KABUL, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Work for the construction of shelters for quake-affected families in west Afghanistan's Herat province has started, the state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported Wednesday.
"Construction of 2,146 houses for recent earthquake victims of Herat has begun," Bakhtar quoted the Afghan caretaker administration's chief spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid as saying.
The shelters would first be built for affected families in Siah Ab village in Zindajan district of Herat, which was hardest hit by the quakes, the report said.
A series of quakes, with some measuring magnitudes of 6.3 on the Richter scale, have struck Herat and its neighboring Badghis and Farah provinces since Oct. 7, causing thousands of casualties.
People are seen near tents on the open ground for fear of tremors in Herat City, west Afghanistan's Herat Province, Oct. 15, 2023. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
Between 1,200 to 1,500 residential houses were destroyed in the quakes, according to acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. ■
