Kabul [Afghanistan], March 21 : A 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan on Friday, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS).
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 160 km, as per NCS data.
In a post on X, NCS stated, "EQ of M: 4.9, On: 21/03/2025 01:00:57 IST, Lat: 36.48 N, Long: 71.45 E, Depth: 160 Km, Location: Afghanistan.
https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1902808026018644186
Earlier on March 13, an earthquake of magnitude 4.0 jolted Afghanistan.
As per the NCS, the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10km, making it susceptible to aftershocks.
"EQ of M: 4.0, On: 13/03/2025 13:58:36 IST, Lat: 36.69 N, Long: 69.70 E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Afghanistan," NCS noted.
https://x.com/NCS_Earthquake/status/1900106667859337320
Shallow earthquakes like this one are more dangerous than deeper ones due to their greater energy release closer to the Earth's surface, causing stronger ground shaking and increased damage to structures and casualties, compared to deeper earthquakes, which lose energy as they travel to the surface.
As per 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 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.
Afghanistan sits on numerous fault lines between the Indian and the Eurasian tectonic plates, with a fault line also running directly through Herat.
When earthquakes strike, their magnitude is important but also their depth, with shallow earthquakes wrecking more damage than those deeper into the Earth. Afghanistan is unfortunately prone to these shallow earthquakes, due to the region's tectonic plates often slipping past one another, as opposed to colliding directly.