Deep M6.1 Earthquake Shakes Hindu Kush and Is Felt Across Afghanistan and Pakistan

Overview

• Seismological agencies measured the event at about magnitude 6.1–6.2 with a focal depth near 208 kilometres beneath the Hindu Kush, and locations reported minor differences as data were refined.
• The tremor was felt across eastern Afghan provinces including Khost and Nangarhar and across the border in Pakistan in cities such as Islamabad and the Swat district.
• Local reports say people ran from homes in panic and eyewitnesses described prolonged shaking, but there are no confirmed large-scale fatalities at this time.
• Authorities reported limited, early damage and injuries: some sources cited about 20 people hurt in Musakhail district and roughly 125 houses structurally affected in Balochistan, Pakistan, with assessments ongoing.
• Seismologists say the great depth helped dissipate energy before it reached the surface so the quake was felt over a wide area without producing the catastrophic surface damage seen in recent shallow quakes elsewhere.