Afghanistan Earthquakes
Why it matters?
A powerful 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, killing over 800 and injuring 2,800. The disaster strains the Taliban administration amid shrinking humanitarian aid, with urgent international assistance needed for rescue, relief, and rebuilding efforts.
What you should know?
Earthquakes occur due to sudden slipping of two blocks of the Earth’s crust, releasing stored elastic strain energy.
An earthquake happens when friction at a fault is overcome, causing a slip.
The hypocenter is the point below the surface where the earthquake starts; the epicenter is directly above it.
Shallow earthquakes (up to 70 km depth) are more destructive than deeper ones.
Magnitude measures the size of seismic waves; energy released increases ~32 times with each magnitude increment.
Afghanistan is highly vulnerable to earthquakes due to its tectonic setting.
Afghanistan lies at the collision zone of the Indian and Eurasian plates, causing high seismic activity.
The Indian plate moves toward the Eurasian plate at ~45 mm per year.
This collision zone accounts for ~15% of global seismic energy release annually.