List of earthquakes in Afghanistan explained

This is a list of earthquakes in Afghanistan. Fairly moderate earthquakes have been very destructive in the country, particularly in the years 1998, 2002 and 2023. This can be blamed on the population residing in mostly informal and adobe houses, which are extremely vulnerable to earthquake shaking.^[1]

Tectonic setting

Afghanistan is situated near the southern extent of the Eurasian plate.

Earthquakes

Date	Place	Lat	Lon		-->Deaths		-->Injuries		-->	MMI	Comments
									- -->
2023-10-07	Herat	34.610	61.924	1,480	2,400	6.3	VIII	Four earthquakes and aftershocks/Extreme damage.	^[2]
2023-03-21	Badakhshan	36.523	70.979	21	424	6.5	V	Moderate damage, 21 deaths including 10 in Pakistan.	^[3]
2022-09-06	Badakhshan	36.649	70.629	6	9	4.8	III	Further damage	^[4]
2022-09-04	Kunar	34.662	70.701	18	42	5.1	VII	Moderate damage	^[5]
2022-07-18	Khost	33.108	69.470		44	5.1	V	Additional damage / aftershock	^[6]
2022-06-24	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan	33.017	69.538	5	11	4.2	VII	All deaths in Afghanistan / aftershock	^[7]
2022-06-21	Khost	33.092	69.514	1,163	2,976	6.0	VIII	Extreme damage/landslides	^[8]
2022-05-24	Hindu Kush	36.118	70.293	2	1	4.9	VI	Minor damage	^[9]
2022-02-05	Hindu Kush	36.445	71.117	3		5.8	IV		^[10]
2022-01-17	Badghis	34.946	63.580	30	49	5.3	VI		^[11]
2018-01-31	Hindu Kush	36.54	70.82	2	22	6.1 Mw	IV
2016-04-10	Ishkashim			6	28	6.6 Mw	V
2015-10-26	Hindu Kush	36.52	70.37	399	2,536	7.5 Mw	VII
2013-04-24	Jalalabad-Mehtar Lam	34.53	70.22	18	130	5.6 Mw	V		^[12]
2012-06-11		36.05	69.30	75	style="text-align:right;"	-	5.4, 5.7	V	Doublet	^[13]
2010-04-18	Samangan	35.71	67.68	11	style="text-align:right;"	-	5.6	VI		^[14]
2009-10-22	Hindu Kush	36.52	70.95	5	style="text-align:right;"	-	6.2	V		^[15]
2009-04-16		34.19	70.08	19	51	5.2	VI	Doublet
2005-12-12	Hindu Kush	36.28	71.11	5	1	6.5 Mw	V
2002-03-25	Hindu Kush	35.93	69.19	2,000	3,000	6.1 Mw	VII
	Hindu Kush	36.5	70.48	166	Some	7.4 Mw	VI
1999-02-11		34.3	69.36	70	500	6.0 Mw	VI		^[16]
1998-05-30		37.17	70.09	4,000–4,500	10,001	6.5 Mw	VI
1998-02-04	Takhar	37.17	70.14	2,323	818	5.9 Mw	VI
1994-05-01	Mazar-i-Sharif	36.901	67.163	160	330	6.1		Severe damage	^[17]
1991-04-20	Badakhshan	36.416	70.912			4.1	III	100 houses damaged	^[18]
1991-04-08	Badakhshan	37.457	68.273	1	6	5.5	VII	Moderate damage	^[19]
1991-01-31	Hindu Kush	35.99	70.42	848	200	6.9 Mw	VII	Extreme damage
1990-07-13	Hindu Kush	36.415	70.789	43	2	6.4	IV	Deaths due to avalanche in Tajikistan.	^[20]
1985-07-29	Hindu Kush	36.190	70.896	5	38	7.4	VIII	Severe damage in Pakistan and Tajikistan as well.	^[21]
1984-02-16	Hindu Kush	36.431	70.826	4	13	6.4	IV	Severe damage	^[22]
1984-02-01	Nangarhar	34.616	70.484	1	35	6.1	VII	Minor damage	^[23]
1983-12-31	Hindu Kush	36.37	70.34	12–26	60–483	7.2 Mb	VII	Severe damage
1982-12-16	Baghlan	36.148	69.011	450	Many	6.6	VI	Severe damage	^[24]
1981-06-13	Samangan	36.176	67.827	1	2	5.5	VI		^[25]
1918-11-15	Hindu Kush	36.202	70.711			7.8	V		^[26]
1842-02-19	Jalalabad	34.4	70.5	500				Severe damage
818-05-15	Hindu Kush	36.8	66.2	Many		7.5 Ms	VIII	Severe damage
Note: The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described also apply to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

See also

• Geology of Afghanistan

References

Sources

Further reading

• • • • Wheeler, Russell L. 2005. Seismotectonic Map of Afghanistan, with Annotated Bibliography [electronic Resource] / by Russell L. Wheeler ... [et Al.] ; Prepared Under the Auspices of the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. Reston, Va: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 21 June 2022. PAGER. 1 December 2022. United States Geological Survey.
2. News: Health Cluster . World Health Organization . Afghanistan Earthquake in Herat Province, Health Situation Report No. 4 10 October 2023 . 11 October 2023 . ReliefWeb . 10 October 2023 . 11 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231011215829/https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-earthquake-herat-province-health-situation-report-no-4-10-october-2023 . live .
3. Web site: M 6.5 – 40 km SSE of Jurm, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 21 March 2023. 24 March 2023.
4. Web site: M 4.8 – 30 km SW of Jurm, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 2 September 2022.
5. Web site: M 5.3 – 34 km NE of Jalālābād, Afghanistan. 2022-09-05 . United States Geological Survey.
6. Web site: M 5.1 – 49 km WNW of Khōst, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 18 July 2022.
7. Web site: M 4.3 – 49 km W of Miran Shah, Pakistan . United States Geological Survey . 24 June 2022.
8. Web site: M 5.9 – 46 km SW of Khōst, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 2022-06-22.
9. Web site: M 5.0 – 63 km SE of Farkhār, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey.
10. Web site: M 5.7 – 45 km SW of Ashkāsham, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey.
11. Web site: M 5.3 – 41 km E of Qala i Naw, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey.
12. Web site: 67 Significant Earthquakes where Country = AFGHANISTAN . 21 March 2024.
13. News: Afghan quakes: Landslide killed 80, says governor. BBC News. 12 June 2012. 12 June 2012.
14. Web site: M5.6 – central Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey.
15. Web site: M6.2 – Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey.
16. Web site: M 6.0 – 27 km WNW of ?uk?mat? Azrah, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey.
17. Web site: M 6.1 – Central Afghanistan . 2024-05-15 . United States Geological Survey.
18. Web site: M 4.1 – 50 km S of Jurm, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey.
19. Web site: M 5.5 – 14 km ESE of Boshchorbogh, Tajikistan. United States Geological Survey.
20. Web site: M 6.4 – 50 km S of Jurm, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 13 October 2021.
21. Web site: M 7.4 – 75 km S of Jurm, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 2 November 2021.
22. Web site: M 6.4 – 48 km S of Jurm, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 2 November 2021.
23. Web site: M 6.1 – 21 km N of Jal?l?b?d, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 2 November 2021.
24. Web site: M 6.6 – 14 km NW of Nahr?n, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 2 November 2021.
25. Web site: M 5.5 – 19 km WSW of Aībak, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 3 May 2023.
26. Web site: M 7.8 – Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan. United States Geological Survey. 2 November 2021. November 15, 1921.