TRANSCRIPT
There are early reports of another 6.3 magnitude earthquake striking northwestern Afghanistan, the site of similar shocks over the weekend.
The United States Geological Survey and the German Research Centre for Geosciences have both confirmed the latest quake, which took place at around 5am local time, with an epicentre of about 29 kilometres north of the city of Herat.
The initial quakes and aftershocks, which took place on Saturday, quickly became the deadliest series of earthquakes the country had seen in two decades.
At least 2,000 people were killed and more than 2000 injured in those quakes.
Richard Walker is a professor of tectonics at Oxford University.
"We know there was a series of earthquakes, two of which were over magnitude 6, about magnitude 6.3, and a number of more moderate shakes. We also have information from radar satellites. So, we have already a model of the ground motion that occurred, permanent ground motion that occurred, due to this earthquake, which gives us information, quite detailed information on the source. So, what we know already is that the faulting was likely a reverse fault, was a reverse fault, which is a type of fault where you are shortening the ground, motion on the fault such as this. We also know that it occurred very locally, it's just to the northwest of Herat city. And we also know that the faulting was compounded at depth. It was shallow, right, so this is a kind of earthquake that contains a lot of high frequency shaking, the kind of things that create damage, but it didn't actually break to the surface."
The federal government is set to provide one-million-dollars in aid to Afghanistan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong released a joint statement alongside the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy.
In it, Ms Wong says, 'Australian stands with Afghanistan,' and 'support will be delivered through independent agencies to provide basic needs such as shelter, food and medicine'.
Afghanistan's Health Minister Al-Haj Dr. Qalandar Ebad says they need lots of supplies, including emergency kits and medicine.
"For the long term, as everybody knows, that after disasters maybe there are communicable diseases and just because of the less of the water, especially the clean water, the water for the drinking, and also for the sanitation. This a big thing and challenging for us."
Australia has committed $50 million throughout 2023 to the ongoing crisis in the country.
The federal government is stressing this new round of aid will not go towards funding the Taliban regime, that seized power in 2021.
It will instead be delivered via the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, led by the United Nations.
On the ground, many survivors are living in makeshift accommodation, such as tents.
Afghanistan's spokesman for the Ministry of Disaster Management, Janan Sayeeq, has said in addition to the casualties, 1,320 houses had been damaged or destroyed.
Reha Hussaini is among a group of women who have helped establish an aid collection campaign.
She says even the smallest gestures can go a long way.
"We've organised this aid collection campaign for the victims of the Herat earthquake, particularly for those who survived the quake and are now facing challenging physical and mental conditions. We gather these modest donations, both cash and in-kind, to alleviate even a small portion of their suffering."
Professor Walker Richard Walker says as populations continue to rise, more people could find themselves in the path of danger when these disasters occur.
"These kind of earthquakes are dangerous in a place such as Afghanistan. A lot of the issues that we see are due to local construction styles, earthen unreinforced buildings, especially in these kind of rural areas that have been affected strongly by this earthquake. And also, we often see and this is one of the great tragedies that the places where people live, so the towns, the villages, are often in proximity to the active faults. There's a reason behind this, the active faults often produce water."
