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An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 jolted Afghanistan late Friday night, a statement by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.
As per the NCS, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 125km. In a post on X, the NCS said, "EQ of M: 4.6, On: 18/07/2025 21:37:01 IST, Lat: 37.17 N, Long: 71.30 E, Depth: 125 Km, Location: Afghanistan." https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1946242929846329757 Earlier on July 17, another earthquake of magnitude 4.7 on the Richter Scale jolted the region. Sharing its details on X, the NCS said, "EQ of M: 4.7, On: 17/07/2025 11:52:04 IST, Lat: 36.16 N, Long: 69.01 E, Depth: 150 Km, Location: Afghanistan." https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1945733074823884980 On July 14, another earthquake of magnitude 4.0 struck the region. In a post on X, the NCS said, "EQ of M: 4.0, On: 14/07/2025 02:48:41 IST, Lat: 36.47 N, Long: 70.92 E, Depth: 120 Km, Location: Afghanistan." https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1944509115579117599 On July 10, an earthquake of magnitude 4.3 jolted the region. In a post on X, the NCS said, "EQ of M: 4.3, On: 10/07/2025 14:31:49 IST, Lat: 36.26 N, Long: 71.25 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Afghanistan." https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1943238647882608661 Shallow earthquakes like this one are more dangerous than deeper ones due to their greater energy release closer to the Earth's surface. This causes stronger ground shaking and increased damage to structures and casualties, compared to deeper earthquakes, which lose energy as they travel to the surface. Afghanistan has a history of powerful earthquakes, and the Hindu Kush Mountain range is a geologically active area where quakes occur every year, according to the Red Cross. Afghanistan sits on numerous fault lines between the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates, with a fault line also running directly through Herat. Its location on several active fault lines along the collision zone between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates makes it a seismically active region. These plates meet and collide, causing frequent seismic activity. As per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Afghanistan remains highly vulnerable to natural disasters, including seasonal flooding, landslides and earthquakes. These frequent earthquakes in Afghanistan cause damage to vulnerable communities, which are already grappling with decades of conflict and underdevelopment and have left them with little resilience to cope with multiple simultaneous shocks, UNOCHA noted. (ANI)
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