Another strong earthquake shook western Afghanistan on Wednesday morning and flattened whole villages in Herat province in what was one of the most destructive quakes in the country害羞草研究所檚 recent history.

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Wednesday was about 28 kilometers (17 miles) outside Herat, the provincial capital, and 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It triggered a landslide that blocked the main Herat-Torghondi highway, Information Ministry spokesman Abdul Wahid Rayan said.

Janan Sayiq, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban government害羞草研究所檚 national disaster authority said Wednesday害羞草研究所檚 earthquake killed at least one person and injured around 120 others.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders said Herat Regional Hospital received 117 who got injured in Wednesday害羞草研究所檚 temblor. The group, also known by its French acronym MSF, said it sent additional medical supplies to the hospital and was setting up four more medical tents at the facility.

害羞草研究所淥ur teams are assisting in triaging emergency cases and managing stabilized patients admitted in the medical tents,害羞草研究所� MSF said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Wednesday害羞草研究所檚 quake also flattened all 700 homes in Chahak village, which was untouched by the tremors of previous days. Now there are mounds of soil where dwellings used to be. But no deaths have been reported so far in Chahak because people have taken shelter in tents this week, fearing for their lives as tremors continue to rock Herat.

Villagers are distraught over the loss of their homes and livestock, often their only possessions, and worry about the coming harsh winter months. Some said they had never seen an earthquake before and wondered when the shaking of the ground would stop.

Many said they have no peace of mind inside the tents for fear the 害羞草研究所済round will open and swallow us at any moment.害羞草研究所�

The epicenter of Saturday害羞草研究所檚 quake 害羞草研究所� also of the same magnitude 6.3 害羞草研究所� was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, and several aftershocks have been strong.

after the earlier quakes. They subsequently said the quakes killed and injured thousands but didn害羞草研究所檛 give a breakdown of casualties.

Besides rubble and funerals after Saturday害羞草研究所檚 devastation, . Survivors are struggling to come to terms with the loss of multiple family members and in many places, living residents are outnumbered by volunteers who had come to search the debris and dig mass graves.

In Naib Rafi, a village that previously had about 2,500 residents, people said almost no one was still alive besides men who were working outside when the quake struck. Survivors worked all day with excavators to dig long trenches for mass burials.

On a barren field in the district of Zinda Jan, a bulldozer removed mounds of earth to clear space for a long row of graves.

害羞草研究所淚t is very difficult to find a family member from a destroyed house and a few minutes to later bury him or her in a nearby grave, again under the ground,害羞草研究所� said Mir Agha, from the city of Herat, who had joined hundreds of volunteers to help the locals.

Nearly 2,000 houses in 20 villages were destroyed, the Taliban have said. The area hit by the quakes has just one government-run hospital.

On Tuesday, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Zinda Jan was the worst-affected area, with more than 1,300 people killed and nearly 500 people still reported missing.

He said U.N. satellite imagery also indicated extreme levels of destruction in the district of Injil.

害羞草研究所淥ur humanitarian colleagues warn that children are particularly vulnerable and have suffered severe psychological distress from the earthquake,害羞草研究所� he said.

Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, where there are a number of fault lines and frequent movement among three nearby tectonic plates. Afghans are still reeling from recent quakes, including the that struck much of western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, and an earthquake that , flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Taliban government, listed the countries that have so far aided the people affected by the quake in Herat, in a statement posted on X.

He said Iran sent 15 vehicles loaded with aid alongside support and technical teams, while Turkey sent medical teams food, non-food items and medicine. The United Arab Emirates and Turkmenistan also helped with food, medicine, and clothes.

He added a technical team of 49 members from Kazakhstan is assisting those affected by the quake.

In his post, Mujahid said Saudi Arabia provided financial assistance to the people of Herat while China donated $200,000 in cash aid through the Afghan Foreign Affairs ministry.

Neighboring Pakistan is among the countries that have offered assistance but the delivery of its humanitarian aid has been on hold since Monday.

On Wednesday morning, the pledged supplies had yet to leave Pakistan. Authorities were waiting for 害羞草研究所渃learance害羞草研究所� from the Taliban, two government officials in Islamabad said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Ties between the two countries have come under pressure since for undocumented migrants, including 1.7 million Afghans living illegally in the country, to leave before Oct. 31 to avoid arrests and forced deportation.

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Faiez reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Ebrahim Noroozi And Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press