Strong quake in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush injures dozens in Pakistan

A strong earthquake in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region shook Kabul and sent tremors into Pakistan, where officials in Musakhail district put the number of injured at more than 20 and the number of damaged houses at dozens. Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority had no immediate official reports of casualties or damage, though checks were still under way.

Seismic agencies gave slightly different readings in the first hours after the quake. The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre listed it at magnitude 6.1 at a depth of 201 kilometers, while Geoscope put it at magnitude 6.2 and 203 kilometers deep. The USGS puts the Pamir-Hindu Kush region among the most seismically hazardous on Earth, with earthquakes in northern Afghanistan capable of reaching depths of about 200 kilometers because of remnant subduction beneath the mountains.

In Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Daniyal Ahmad said, "It was very huge here in Swat and it lasted for quite a long time," and described women and children crying in panic as people rushed out of their homes. The shaking followed a separate magnitude 5.4 quake in Pakistan earlier the same day.

Damage was already visible in Balochistan. In Tehsil Kingri in Musakhail, the first quake on June 26 partially damaged 80 to 90 houses in Mouza Chap, and later assessments put the number of injured people at about 19 to 20, with more than 120 homes damaged or affected. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority Balochistan dispatched tents, food, solar panels, blankets and other supplies, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the National Disaster Management Authority and the provincial government to speed rescue and relief and provide medical help.

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Badakhshan on March 21, 2023, killed at least 21 people in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan and injured hundreds.