Earthquake of magnitude 5.9 rocks Afghanistan, tremors felt in Delhi, Islamabad

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 struck Afghanistan on Wednesday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The tremors were felt in the National Capital Region (NCR) in India and also in Pakistan's Islamabad.

EMSC and also India's National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said that the quake occurred at a depth of 75 km. Notably, initially, it was reported that the magnitude of the quake was 6.9, but it was revised later.

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The earthquake occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning at 04:43 am Indian Standard Time (IST).

In a detailed post on X, the NCS shared revealed details of the earthquake that occurred at Latitude 35.83 N, Longitude 70.60 E.

“EQ of M: 5.9, On: 16/04/2025 04:43:58 IST, Lat: 35.83 N, Long: 70.60 E, Depth: 75 Km, Location: Hindu Kush, Afghanistan”, NCS wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Meteorological Department (PMD) said that strong Earthquake that was felt across Islamabad and parts of northern Pakistan earlier this morning was recorded at magnitude of 5.9 on richter scale with its epicentre being in the HinduKush region in Afghanistan.

Earthquakes in Afghanistan

Earthquakes centred at Afghanistan become significant as it 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.

Meanwhile, according to 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 sits on numerous fault lines between the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates, with a fault line also running directly through Herat.