REUTERS, HERAT

Rescue workers yesterday scrambled to pull out survivors, and the dead, from beneath the rubble two days after the northwestern city of Herat and its surroundings were struck by the deadliest earthquakes to rattle Afghanistan in years.

The Taliban administration said at least 2,400 people were killed and many more injured in the quakes, which were among the world’s deadliest this year after tremors in Turkey and Syria, in which an estimated 50,000 people were killed.

Neighbours Pakistan and Iran have offered to send rescue workers and humanitarian aid, while China’s Red Cross Society offered cash relief aid. A technical team from Iran has arrived in the area, Mullah Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disaster Management, said during a press conference.

“I ask all countries, to help us in this crucial time,” said Sayeeq. He said that rescue operations are ongoing, adding that people are still trapped under rubble in two villages and teams are working to pulled them out.

The spokesman of Herat’s governor, Nissar Ahmad Elyias, told Reuters that more than a dozen villages around Herat were also affected.

Many buildings in Herat city were relatively unaffected, but the mediaeval minarets of its famous mosques sustained some damage, photographs on social media showed.

“Many of our family members have been martyred, including one of my sons, and my other son is also injured,” Herat resident Mir Ahmed told Reuters at a hospital that was treating many survivors. “Most of the people are under the rubble.”

Hemmed in by mountains, Afghanistan has a history of strong earthquakes, many in the rugged Hindu Kush region bordering Pakistan.