Earthquake in Afghanistan Kills 12, Including Family That Just Fled Iran

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan's Badakhshan province on Friday at 8:42pm local time, killing 12 people including eight members of one family who had just returned from Iran as refugees. The family's home collapsed in the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul province, about 290 kilometers southwest of the epicenter, leaving only a two-year-old child as an injured survivor. Tremors were felt across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, though no immediate damage was reported near the epicenter. Afghanistan averages 560 earthquake deaths annually due to its location along the Hindu Kush mountain range where tectonic plates meet, with a magnitude 6 quake in August killing at least 2,200 people in Kunar province in the deadliest recent tremor.

Fatal impact of the earthquake on Afghan families

• ▪Sharafat Zaman is a Health Ministry spokesman in Afghanistan
• ▪The two-year-old survivor of the Afghanistan earthquake in Kabul province was injured
• ▪A child aged around two years old was the only survivor of the family killed in the Afghanistan earthquake in Kabul province
• ▪An earthquake in Afghanistan killed eight members of the same family when their home collapsed in the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul province

Geographic scope and seismic characteristics of the tremor

• ▪Pakistan felt the Afghanistan earthquake, including in Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla
• ▪The US Geological Survey reported the epicenter of the Afghanistan earthquake was in the northeastern province of Badakhshan
• ▪The Afghanistan earthquake measured 5.8 magnitude and struck at 8:42pm local time on Friday at a depth of 186 kilometers
• ▪There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in areas closer to the earthquake epicenter in Badakhshan province
• ▪Strong tremors from the Afghanistan earthquake were felt in multiple parts of Afghanistan, including Kabul and New Delhi, India
• ▪Kabul is located about 290 kilometers southwest of the earthquake epicenter in Badakhshan province

Afghanistan's vulnerability to earthquakes and disaster response challenges

• ▪A magnitude 6 earthquake in eastern Afghanistan in August killed at least 2,200 people, making it the deadliest tremor in the country's recent history
• ▪On average, 560 people are killed by earthquakes in Afghanistan every year
• ▪Badakhshan province is remote, so it can often take several hours before local authorities can relay information back to Kabul
• ▪Afghanistan is frequently jolted by earthquakes along the Hindu Kush mountain range near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates
• ▪Most casualties from the August earthquake in Afghanistan were in Kunar province
• ▪Many homes in rural and outlying areas of Afghanistan are poorly built with bricks, wood and mud
• ▪Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions
• ▪Afghans in Kunar province typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys