4.6 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Afghanistan, Continuing November's Tremors

Post by : Raina Nasser

Kabul: A 4.6 magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan in the early hours of Thursday, as reported by the National Center for Seismology (NCS). The tremor occurred at 2:20 AM IST at a depth of 140 kilometers, with its epicenter at latitude 36.43°N and longitude 71.20°E.

This marks the third seismic event to shake Afghanistan this November, highlighting the country’s significant susceptibility to earthquakes. The region frequently experiences tremors due to its positioning on various active fault lines, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates converge.

Previously, on November 8, a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck at a depth of 180 kilometers, and on November 4, a severe 6.3 magnitude quake impacted northern Afghanistan, leading to the loss of at least 27 lives and injuring around 956 individuals, with substantial structural damage, notably to a historic mosque near Mazar-i-Sharif.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) indicates that Afghanistan remains one of the world's most disaster-prone areas, regularly facing earthquakes, landslides, and flooding. The Hindu Kush Mountain range, traversing much of northern Afghanistan, is considered one of the globe's most seismically volatile regions.

Persistent conflict, economic difficulties, and inadequate infrastructure have considerably heightened the vulnerability of Afghan communities to such natural disasters. Experts caution that the limited emergency response capacity in the country could render even minor earthquakes significantly devastating.

With ongoing seismic activity, humanitarian organizations are calling for increased investment in disaster preparedness and resilient infrastructure to mitigate loss of life and property during future seismic events.