Amid the confusion, the death toll from yesterday’s quakes spiked from 500 reported this morning by a Red Crescent spokesman and 16 from yesterday night.

The quakes hit 35 km northwest of the city of Herat, with one measuring 6.3 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Mullah Janan Sayeeq, a spokesman for the ministry of disasters, told Reuters 2,053 people were dead, 9,240 were injured, and 1,329 houses were damaged or destroyed.

More than 200 dead had been brought to different hospitals, a Herat health department official who identified himself as Dr Danish told Reuters, adding most of them were women and children.

Bodies had been “taken to several places – military bases, hospitals,” Danish said.

The quakes caused panic in Herat, resident Naseema said yesterday.

“People left their houses, we all are on the streets,” she wrote in a text message to Reuters, adding that the city was feeling follow-on tremors.