Over 2,445 residents have been killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration said on Sunday.

The incidents have been described as the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years.

The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Janan Sayeeq, spokesman for the Ministry of Disasters, said in a message to international media that the toll had risen to 2,445 dead, but he revised down the number of injured to “more than 2,000.”

He had earlier said that 9,240 people had been injured.

Sayeeq also said 1,320 houses had been damaged or destroyed. The death toll spiked from 500 reported earlier on Sunday by the Red Crescent.

Ten rescue teams were in the area, which borders Iran, Sayeeq told a press conference.

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