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Photos: Afghanistan hit by another earthquake

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's western province of Herat. This came just days after a series of tremors caused massive damage in the same region.
Samir Mirwai
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Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's western province of Herat. This came just days after a series of tremors caused massive damage in the same region.

There's been another earthquake in Afghanistan – in the same region where thousands of people were killed in quakes just over a week ago.

There's been no official report on damage or casualties from this latest quake.

This 6.3 magnitude earthquake has hit the same region around Herat, Afghanistan, which was devastated by a previous quake on October 7, and by subsequent aftershocks.

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Relief operations from those quakes are still underway. The October 7 quake was one of the most destructive in Afghanistan's recent history. Villages, mostly made of mud-brick homes, were flattened. So were schools and hospitals. The United Nations says more than 90% of those killed were women and children.

Survivors struggling to come to terms with those losses have now been hit again.

The U.S. Geological Survey says this latest quake was also followed by relatively strong 4- and 5-magnitude aftershocks.

A man walks on rubbles after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's western province of Herat on October 15, 2023.
Samir Mirwai / Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A man walks on rubbles after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan's western province of Herat on October 15, 2023.
Children walk amid the debris. The earthwaukes on Oct. 7 flattened whole villages in Herat.
Samir Mirwai / Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
/
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Children walk amid the debris. The earthwaukes on Oct. 7 flattened whole villages in Herat.

Damage from earlier in the week

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Sun., Oct. 8: Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, of western Afghanistan
Omid Haqjoo / AP
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AP
Sun., Oct. 8: Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province, of western Afghanistan
Sun., Oct. 8: Afghan women mourn relatives killed in an earthquake at a burial site after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Sun., Oct. 8: Afghan women mourn relatives killed in an earthquake at a burial site after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province.
Sun., Oct. 8: Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Sun., Oct. 8: Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat province.
Mon., Oct. 9: Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Mon., Oct. 9: Afghan men search for victims after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Mon., Oct. 9: Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake to a burial site, in a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Mon., Oct. 9: Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake to a burial site, in a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Mon., Oct. 9: Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake to a burial site, outside a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Mon., Oct. 9: Afghans bury hundreds of people killed in an earthquake to a burial site, outside a village in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Mon., Oct. 9: An Afghan man mourns next to the grave of his wife who died due to an earthquake, in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Mon., Oct. 9: An Afghan man mourns next to the grave of his wife who died due to an earthquake, in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Thurs., Oct. 12: An Afghan woman uses the bricks of her destroyed house to strengthen her tent during a sandstorm, after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Thurs., Oct. 12: An Afghan woman uses the bricks of her destroyed house to strengthen her tent during a sandstorm, after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Thurs., Oct. 12: Afghan girls and women carry donated aid to their tents, while they are scared and crying from the fierce sandstorm, after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
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AP
Thurs., Oct. 12: Afghan girls and women carry donated aid to their tents, while they are scared and crying from the fierce sandstorm, after an earthquake in Zenda Jan district in Herat.

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Lauren Frayer
Lauren Frayer covers South Asia for NPR News. In 2018, she opened a new NPR bureau in India's biggest city, its financial center, and the heart of Bollywood—Mumbai.
Nicole Werbeck