At least 15 people have been killed and around 40 others injured after several earthquakes struck Afghanistan’s western Herat province on Saturday, authorities said.

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Janan Sayeq, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, said that the casualties happened in Zinda Jan district of Herat province.

He said that the casualties were likely to increase.

According to the official, some homes in Farah and Badghis provinces were also partially damaged.

Quakes started at about 11am local time, sending crowds of residents and shopkeepers out of buildings in Herat city.

Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes in Afghanistan occurred at around 11am, followed by a 5.5 magnitude aftershock, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said in a report.

USGS warned that hundreds of fatalities were possible as well as "potentially widespread damage" as past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response.

National Disaster Management Authority spokesman Mullah Jan Sayeq told AFP the initial toll was "preliminary" and he feared it would rise as "in the rural and mountainous areas there have been landslides as well". Mohammad Taleb Shahid, public health director of Herat province also told AFP this is not the final figure and that he believes people are buried under the rubble.

Herat is considered the cultural capital of Afghanistan and is the official capital of Herat province which is home to an estimated population of 1.9 million.