KABUL: More than 800 people were killed and over 2,500 injured when a magnitude-6 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan around midnight on Monday, the latest reminder of the region’s vulnerability to seismic disasters.
Lying at the intersection of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, Afghanistan and Pakistan have endured repeated tremors and deadly quakes in recent years.
In 2025 alone, multiple quakes have shaken the region. A magnitude 5.6 tremor hit Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush on August 27, followed by a 5.2 quake in the same area on August 19.
Pakistan has also faced jolts, including a magnitude 5.5 quake in June and a 5.7 tremor in May. Karachi, the country’s southern port city, experienced several moderate shocks in March and June.
The previous year saw a series of damaging quakes, including a magnitude 6.3 event in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush in January 2024, and a 5.75 quake in Pakistan that September. Afghanistan also faced multiple deadly earthquakes in October 2023, while a magnitude 6.5 quake in March that year killed at least 13 people.
In June 2022, a powerful magnitude 6 earthquake in Afghanistan killed more than 1,000 people, one of the deadliest in decades. Pakistan too has faced significant losses, such as the October 2021 quake in Balochistan that killed at least 15.
Seismologists warn that the region’s position on active fault lines makes it highly prone to frequent tremors, with both countries facing challenges of poor infrastructure, vulnerable housing, and limited resources for disaster response.
