Earthquake of magnitude 4.0 jolts Afghanistan

An earthquake of magnitude 4.0 jolted Afghanistan on Monday, a statement by the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.

As per the NCS, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10km, making it susceptible to aftershocks.

In a post on X, the NCS said, “EQ of M: 4.0, On: 10/03/2025 07:01:10 IST, Lat: 36.97 N, Long: 73.14 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan.”

Shallow earthquakes like this one are more dangerous than deeper ones due to their greater energy release closer to the Earth’s surface, causing stronger ground shaking and increased damage to structures and casualties, compared to deeper earthquakes, which lose energy as they travel to the surface.

Earlier in the day, Afghanistan’s neighbour, Pakistan, was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 on the Richter Scale.

“EQ of M: 4.2, On: 10/03/2025 02:46:22 IST, Lat: 36.10 N, Long: 71.43 E, Depth: 170 Km, Location: Pakistan,” the NCS stated in a post on X.

On March 8, Pakistan was struck by an earthquake of 4.3 magnitude, as per NCS.

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 under-development and have left them with little resilience to cope with multiple simultaneous shocks, UNOCHA noted. 

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.

Source: ANI
--Agencies