Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake Strikes Afghanistan

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 struck northeastern Afghanistan on Thursday, causing buildings to shake in the capital Kabul and Islamabad in neighboring Pakistan. Fortunately, authorities reported no casualties or significant damage in the hours following the quake.

The epicenter was located in the Jurm district of the Afghan province of Badakhshan, situated in the remote Hindu Kush region, according to the US Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred at a depth of approximately 200 kilometers (125 miles), just before 2:00 p.m. (0930 GMT). Kabul, which is about 300 kilometers from Jurm, experienced the tremors.

Afghanistan, particularly the Hindu Kush mountain range near the convergence of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, is frequently prone to earthquakes. In October of the previous year, a series of quakes with magnitudes ranging from 4.2 to 6.3 claimed around 1,000 lives in western Afghanistan.

Months later, thousands of people in the affected region are still living in tents as winter weather sets in, with the UN's refugee agency reporting 10,000 homes destroyed. Afghanistan has a history of devastating earthquakes, with the deadliest recent event occurring in 1998 when 5,000 people lost their lives in the northeastern provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.