APPENDIX
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTIONS OF EARTHQUAKES IN AFGHANISTAN 819-2000
819 June (7.4) The earliest earthquake in Afghanistan
for which we have information occured in Dhu'l-Hijja 20
aH = June 819, in the region between modern Meymaneh, Andkhvoy
and Mazar-i Sharif [Abu'l Fida:ii.26, Ibn al-Shihna:vii.59. Ibn
al-Athir]. It affected a large area in which many houses were
destroyed, with heavy casualties affecting severely other urban
centers many tens of kilometres apart, including Faryab (36.42N,
64.91), Taliqan (35.78N, 64.16E) and others which are not named
in the districts of Juzjan in the west, and Tukharistan in the
east of these places. The shock destroyed a quarter of the city
of Balkh (36.75N, 66.90E) and ruined the masjid-i jami
there [Ibn al Jauzi quoted by al-Suyuti:24].
As a result of the earthquake the desert of Sidreh (36.75N,
66.22E) which lies between Shaburghan (36.67N, 65.74E) and Balkh,
was flooded by an excessive rise of the water table, which in
places turned the country into a fertile area. Some of this flooding
seems to have been permanent resulting in creation of new oases
[Qudama:210; al-Masudi: pp.43-45].
The shock was felt in Marv (37.56N, 63.32E) and probably
also at Amul (39.11N, 63.57E) and Transoxania [Ibn al-Athir:vi.252].
Aftershocks lasted for a month or so. That this earthquake is
mentioned by several sources suggests its importance, and from
the radius of the felt area we assess a magnitude of Ms7.4.
Damage in both Transoxania and the towns of Faryab and Taliqan
to the west, is considered unlikely, and it is possible that Ma
vara'al-nahr (Transoxania) mentioned in some early sources
should stand for Marv al-Rud, or Lesser Marv, i.e. Bala
Murghab, which is confirmed by Qudama who says that the regions
of Marv and Tukharistan were affected, and probably also Amol
[Gorshkov1947]. An earthquake of this magnitude would certainly
have been felt across the Oxus, but probably without damage.
849 A series of earthquakes was reported from Herat; information from other areas is lacking. The first damaging shock in Herat in 234 aH = 849 caused some houses to collapse. [Ibn al-Jauzi 38v; al Soyuti 26]. It is most likely the reference is to Herat in Afghanistan, but it should be borne in mind that there was also a town of this name in Fars, near Istakhr [Yaqut iv.959]
1102 Feb 28 This second Herat earthquake destroyed a
number of houses and other buildings, including heavy damage to
the masjid-i jami, with some casualties in the city. According
to Isfizari:ii.55, on the night of Friday 8 Jumada I, 495, there
was a calamity (nazileh) in Herat; the western side of
the mosque and most of the northern and southern sides were destroyed.
A rather different version specifies that a strong shock, with
a north-south motion, caused the collapse of many buildings in
Herat, the masjid-i jami suffering heavy damage. The closeness
of nazileh to zalzaleh (earthquake), and the apparent
support of this reading in a variant text, confirms that an earthquake
was responsible for the damage [Fahmi in Barbier 1860].
1364 Feb 19 On 6 Jumada I, 765 = 19 February 1364 a
third destructive earthquake occurred in Herat [Hafiz-i Abru:xxxvii;
Hafiz-i Abru, Manjmu:48; Fasih:iii.96]. Most of the buildings
in the city were ruined, particularly the tall structures. The
shock caused the battlements to fall from the ramparts and several
meters fell from the top of the Falak al-Din minaret. The
masjid-i jami in the city was again damaged; the main arch
collapsed although its two supporting pillars remained intact.
The information about this earthquake suggest that the shock
originated some distance from Herat possibly in the Gulran district,
with damage in Herat caused by long-period ground movements.
It is important to note, that in spite of the prominence
on Herat during the middle ages, no information regarding serious
damage has been found in the voluminous source material.
1410 Earthquakes were felt in Balkh (36.75N, 66.90E)
and Bukhara (39.77N, 64.42E). Landslides in the mountains dammed
streams to form a deep lake at a place which is not given [al-Umari:
fol.153v]. It is not possible to assess the effects of the earthquake
on the cities mentioned. Balkh and Bukhara were both brought
under the authority of Shah Rukh this year, but there is no reference
to the earthquake in any of the Persian and Timourid sources,
so al-Umari's authority remains obscure. Damage to Balkh cannot
have been serious or one would expect it to have been more widely
described in historic materials.
The earthquake is comparable to the event of A.D. 819
in the extent of the area affected and the number of shocks experienced.
The mention of mountains in this region suggest an epicentral
region east of Bukhara [Melville 1978].
1428 All that is known about this event is that in the year 831 aH = 1428, there was an earthquake in Taliqan, with shocks lasting 10 days, in which many people were killed [al-Umari: fol.159v]. Even the location can be questioned, since Taliqan of Qazvin or Talikan of Merv may have been shaken, both areas being almost equally seismically active. Earthquakes in Merv are more likely to have been recorded than those further west at this period, and as al-Umari's source may have been the same as for the 1410 event, a tentative location of this event in northern Afghanistan may be preferred [Melville 1978].
1505 Jul 6 (7.3) For this earthquake
(3rd Safar 911 aH, or 6 July 1505) we have an eyewitness account.
In Kabul (34.53N, 69.13E) the shocks ruined the ramparts of the
fort, even the walls of gardens. Paghman (34.58N, 68.95E)
was particularly badly affected, all houses there being destroyed
and 70 or 80 people were killed, with numerous casualties
in nearby towns and villages. Most of the houses in Tipa
(Tibah, 34.68N, 69.01E)) were levelled with the ground.
Between Istarghach (Istarghij, 34.91N, 69.07E) and the
plain (maidan) for about 6 or 8 farsakhs (31 to 42 km),
in some places the ground rose as high as an elephant, in others,
sank as deep. It is not clear from the text whether maidan
here refers to the plain or to the town of Maidan (shahr)
which is at the southern end of the Paghman range, west southwest
of Kabul. Villages and groves slipped from their place and many
rising grounds were levelled and dust rose from the tops of the
mountains. Between Paghaman and Begtut, the valley just north
of Paghaman, there was a landslide, where water springs emerged
to the surface. Thirty three aftershocks are reported on the
day of the earthquake with two or three a day, for the next month.
A greatly abbreviated notice of this earthquake in
Kabul is given also by al-Asafi, who puts the event in 912 aH
(1506) and says that destruction was general among citadels (qal'at)
and houses in which many people perished al-Asafi (p.934).
At the time of the earthquake, Babur was outside Kabul,
preparing for his campaign against Kandahar; it took him about
a month of hard work to repair the fort (Bala Hissar)
at Kabul (Babur: fols. 157r-158r, pp.247-8).We have no information
of the effects of the earthquake from other places and is not
known how far the shock was felt. Babur's memoirs do not mention
any damage or repairs in other places through which he traveled
during his campaign against Kandahar.
Baird-Smith (1843b) assumes that the effects of the shock
extended hundreds of kilometres to Kandahar, Ghazni and Jalalabad
for which we could find no evidence, while other modern writers
confuse the word qal'at mentioned by al-Asafi with the
town of Qalat north-east of Kandahar. The available information
clearly suggests that the earthquake was associated with at least
40 km long surface rupture of the Paghman fault, 20 km north-west
of Kabul, which strikes N20°E. Much of the destruction was
reported from Istargij, Tibeh to Paghman, localities which
lie along the fault. Vertical offset on the fault appears to
have been approximately 3 m. An unknown amount of strike-slip
faulting may also have occurred.
1519 Jan 3 There is little macroseismic information
about this earthquake in north-east Afghanistan. It is mentioned
in the sources that describe Babur's campains to Swat; they say
that the earthquake occurred on Monday, 1st Muharram 925 (3 Jan.
1519) in the direction of the region adjoining Bajaur (c.34.9N,
71.4E), and that it lasted half an hour (sic); after the earthquake
Babur conquered the citadel of Bajaur (Abu 'l-Fadl, al-Asafi,
sub.ann.).
The region meant here should be along the middle course
of the river Kunar, north-east of Jalalabad (34.43N, 70.45E) near
Arandu (35.32-71.56). The survival of this notice in the sources
suggests that the earthquake, which occurred in this sparsely
populated and mountainous area, was a relatively large event.
Wilson (1930) commits a double error with this earthquake:
he reads Bujnurd for Bajaur, places the event in Iran, and confuses
this earthquake with that of Kabul in 1505. The quality of the
data allows only an estimate of the general location of the event,
which may have occurred on the Kunar fault, but it does not permit
an accurate assessment of its presumably sizable magnitude.
1832 Jan 22 (7.4) This was a large earthquake with
an apparent epicentral area in the district of Badakhshan in northeastern
Afghanistan. It occurred at 11 pm local time on 22 January 1832,
and together with its damaging aftershock of 21 February destroyed
most of the villages in the district, allegedly killing thousands
of people.
In Kalafgan (36.77-69.93) all forts and houses were
destroyed and many lost their lives. In Jorm (36.84-70.7) 35
km east of Kalafgan, houses collapsed and 12 people out of 25
were killed. From a total population of 310 in three nearby villages
156 were killed. In the valley of Kowkcheh (36.60-70.85) the
shock triggered numerous rockfalls and in the neighbouring valley
of Varaduj (36.68-71.13) a fort and houses were destroyed, and
a whole mountain-side fell into the valley damming the river for
eight days before the dam was breached. In the Sargulam valley,
72 of a population of 155 perished.
The earthquake was felt strongly in Kabul (34.53-69.14),
it caused some panic in Lahore (31.56-74.35) and it was reported
from Srinagar (34.08N, 74.8E), Kokand (40.52-70.95) and
Bukhara (39.78-64.43). (Burnes 1834 i.17,.ii.203; Masson 1844;
Wood 1872; Journ. Asiat.Soc. Bengal, vol.1, p.34, 146, 1832;
Trans. Geol. Soc. London, vol.3, p.492)
The earthquake was felt over an area of 450 km radius,
an indication which, on the authority of Musketof and Orloff
(1893.242), Kondorskaya and Shebalin (1977.202) is interpreted
as a subcrustal event of focal depth of 180 km, consistent with
depths of recent large events in the region. They assign to it
an epicentral intensity of IX and a magnitude mb of 7.4.
The earthquake was followed by a long series of aftershocks,
one of which (21 Feb.) caused rockfalls that blocked valleys in
Badakhshan, adding to the damage, a rather unusual characteristic
of deep earthquakes.
1842 Feb 19 (7.5) This earthquake in north-east
Afghanistan occurred during the second Afghan War on 19 February
1842. A famous account of the earthquake and its aftershocks are
related by Lady Sale who was held hostage with her colleagues
during the several months following the earthquake (Sale, 1843).
On 5 January British forces had surrendered Kabul and began their
retreat to Jalalabad, 120 km west of Kabul, still garrisoned by
the British who had hastily restored its dilapidated defences
damaged by the earthquake. Much of what has been written about
this earthquake is based on contemporary accounts and press reports
(Eyre 1843; Gleig 1846; Sale 1846, Englishman 1842) and on less
useful, later works and earthquake catalogs (Stenz 1945).
The earthquake occurred at 11h 40m local time. At Jalalabad
(34.43N, 70.45E) situated on the right bank of the Kabul river,
ground movements were very strong; not a man could keep his legs;
everyone was prostrated, and nausea affected all. The defences
of Jalalabad itself, which had just been repaired, were seriously
affected. A substantial length (2.4 km) of the newly built parapets
were damaged without loss of life. Several breaches were made
in the old adobe bastions and in the curtains in the Peshawar
(east) face. The Kabul gate was reduced to a shapeless mass of
ruins. However, in a matter of days the damage was repaired (Abbott
1879, IO 1843, Memoirs 1875).
Within the walls a third of the local houses were destroyed,
the collapse of tall houses choked the streets leaving no room
for escape. Some people were injured but few of the inhabitants
were killed. In the British garrison only 4 men were killed,
and many were injured, but none seriously. On the whole, loss
of life was small, compared to the nature and extent of damage.
A report written after the earthquake contains a complete set
of sketches indicating the extent of damage to the walls of Jalalabad.
(IO 1842; Heuckroth and Karim 1970). Outside of the walls, presumably
along the river face, the ground opened in several places and
water appeared on the surface. According to Baird-Smith (1842b),
the waters of the Kabul river were twice thrown from their bed,
North of Jalalabad the shock caused considerable damage to settlements
on a portion of the Suffid Kuh range of mountains (Baird-Smith
1842b). In the regions of Laghan and Kunar, villages were ruined
killing dozens of children and women. The large settlements of
Chaharbag and Tigri in the Alingar valley suffered severely,
scarcely a house being left standing, and several hundreds of
people were killed (Eyre 1843).
Further to the north, damage was considerable in the fort
of Budeeabad where several English prisoners (including Eyre and
Lady Sale) were confined. The motion of the ground was so severe
that people could only with difficulty maintain their balance.
Walls, gateways and corner towers, were all much shaken, or thrown
down. Almost all the houses in the fort were damaged and a few
collapsed, but all hostages entirely escaped injury. Eyewitness
accounts indicated that the fort of Budeeabad had suffered less
than the other 40 forts in the valley. In one fort a tower fell,
killing five people, others had not a wall remaining (Sale, 1843).
Along the valley from Buddeabad to Tigri, none of the forts
escaped damage, with few inhabitable, and mostly masses of ruins
(Eyre, 1843). In the Kunar valley, where the shock triggered
landslides and rockfalls from the hills, the forts of Shewa
and Pashat were totally destroyed (IO 1842).
Outside this region, damage was far less severe but widespread.
To the west, some parts of the fort of Tezeen is said to have
been destroyed (Heuck & Karim 1970), while at Kabul the shock
caused little more than general panic; the walls of the European
ward, were badly shaken and came down a few days later (Baird-Smith
1842b). There is no evidence that Kabul and its fort needed any
repairs after it was re-taken by the British forces on 15 Sep
1842 (IO 1842). Nor are there damage reports from Argandeh, Bala
Maidan and Jalriz, west of Kabul, where the shock caused some
concern, but details are lacking (Sale 1843).
It appears that the effects of the earthquake extended more
to the east of the Laghan-Kunar region. At the camp of Kawulsur,
13 km from Peshawar, the shock was violent. Many of the camels
that were carrying the baggage of the troops were thrown down,
people were obliged to support themselves, and many suffered severe
nausea (Delhi Gazette).
According to press reports from Peshawar, the largest urban
center east of the apparent epicentral region, the shock lasted
intermittently for almost two minutes and destroyed one tenth
of its adobe houses killing 40 to 50 people (Delhi Gazette; Memoirs
1875). There is some evidence that some small damage extended
to Kalabagh, particularly in the part of the town on the right
bank of the Indus, but it is not certain whether this was due
to the earthquake, to the great flood of the Indus in 1842, or
to both (Binnie personal communication).
Interestingly several reports have survived for this earthquake
recorded at remote distances from the epicenter, implying that
the magnitude of the earthquake was considerable. At Shalkur,
in Little Tibet near Skardu, at an epicentral distance of 410
km, the shock was strong enough to be mentioned in official dispatches
(Baird-Smith 1842a). Although we have no information about damage
between Kalabagh and Ferozopore, at Ferozopore (560 km) the shock
was widely felt and it was rather strong (Baird-Smith 1842a).
At Ludiana (650 km) it lasted more than 90 seconds.
Eastward along the Himalayan front it was felt at Lansdour
and Dehra (Baird-Smith 1843). At Simla (720 km) the earthquake
was barely perceptible; however, it disturbed the records in the
magnetic observatory (Mallet 1853; Baird-Smith 1842b; Boileau
1845). Mussoorie (820 km) was the most easterly limit of the
earthquake where the shock was perceptible (Baird-Smith 1842b).
In the plains fronting the Himalaya the shock was barely
felt but at Poojna and along the Doab Canal at Kulsea (860 km).
There, the water in the canal was unusually muddy and was disturbed
by a high swell (Baird-Smith 1842a). The shock was felt at Saharanpur
(860 km) but attracted no particular attention (Baird-Smith 1842a).
In Delhi (910 km) the shock was generally felt (Baird-Smith 1842b).
About 30 km south-west of Delhi, at Sonub (930 km), the shock
was not felt but allegedly was responsible for a change in the
flow rate of a hot spring (Baird-Smith 1842b)
To the south and southeast of the epicenter the shock was
felt slightly at Quetta (650 km) and it was scarcely felt in
the Sind (1100 km) .
Although it is not clear as to precisely where the epicentral
area was located, from the evidence available some reasonable
deductions can be made. We know that maximum damage occurred
over a large area in the eastern Laghan and Kunar regions between
Budeeabad, Jalalabad and Pashtat, which could have well extended
toward the north-east into an area from where we have no information.
It is unlikely that the epicentral area extended to the south-east
along the supply route of the British forces, and most certainly
it did not extend much to the west; significant damage apparently
did not extend to Tezeen and beyond Kabul.
These observations and the fact that all known aftershocks
were reported from the Jalalabad-Budeeabad region, very few from
Peshawar to the eastward, and none to the westward (Baird-Smith
1842b) suggest that the location of the epicentral region must
be sought in eastern Laghan in the Kunar district, possibly associated
with oblique thrust faulting along the southern section of the
Kunar fault system about 35.0N, 71.0E (Chmyriov et al. 1972).
Aftershocks continued to the beginning of the following year,
most of them being strong to damaging chiefly in the region of
Jalalabad (Baird-Smith, 1843). The large number of aftershocks
and the prolonged duration of the aftershock sequence which extended
for months, suggest a crustal event.
From the area within which the earthquake was felt
we estimate the surface wave magnitude of this event to be MS
7.5.
1874 Oct 18 (7.0) Little is known about this earthquake
which on 18 October 1874 caused serious damage in the region north
of Kabul. According to local sources [Furon 1925a,b; Stenz
1945.3] it occurred on an afternoon during Ramadan about the middle
of Sher Ali Khan's reign. This is consistent with the date of
an earthquake in Kabul on 18 October 1874 reported in the press
[The Times 1.12.1874 p.5]
The densely populated region of Kohestan (35.12N, 69.30E)
and the nearby villages of Golbahar (35.14N, 69.30E) and Jabal
Saraj (35.13N, 69.24E), 70 km north of Kabul, were almost totally
destroyed with many casualties. The ground opened up, presumably
due to liquefaction, in the vicinity of Jabal Saraj.
Press reports say that in Kabul (34.53N, 69.13E) more
than 1000 houses were destroyed and many people were killed [Fuchs
1886.485). However no corroborating evidence has been found to
support this, and this statement may refer to the losses sustained
in the Kohestan.
Press reports add that the shock was felt at Sekunderabad
(32.42N, 65.05E) [Times of India:7-11-76] and Kandahar (31.61N,
65.70E) [Ballore 1905.207] about 490 km south of Kohestan. However,
it is not clear which of the many Sekunderabads in Afghanistan
and India is meant here. The shock was perceptible 530 km north
of Kohestan, in Samarqand (39.66N, 66.95E) at 13h 30m lasting
for 1-2 min [Musketof and Orloff, 1893.460]. We can find no mention
in consular despatches from Mashhad of an earthquake having been
felt in the city [FO.Persia.60.361.1874]
The earthquake occurred near the north terminus of the
Pagham fault, from where ground deformation was reported. Its
magnitude may be assessed roughly from the area of perceptibility,
which suggests MS 7.0.
1892 Dec 20 (6.5) This earthquake occurred in the
Chaman area, about 90 km north-west of Quetta, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan
border, where it caused spectacular deformation of the newly laid
railroad that crossed the Chaman fault (Griesbach, 1893). Left-lateral
offset of the Chaman fault occurred although the length of surface
rupture is not precisely known. A surface wave magnitude of MS
6.8, is consistent with the minimum known length of the rupture,
the relatively small area over which the earthquake was felt,
and early teleseismic instrumental data. A detailed discussion
of this event can be found in Bilham and Ambraseys (2003).
1893 Feb 13 (5.9) This earthquake caused some concern
at Chaman but no damage. In Quetta it was much stronger than the
shock of 20 December 1892 which implies that this was not an
aftershock but a separate event with an epicenter not far from
the town. It may be the shock which is said to have caused damage
at Pishin and Baghihindu sometime in early 1893 NT(47.470; 48.348-349).
The earthquake was recorded at Strasbourg (Rebeur-Paschwitz
1893, 1897) and if it be assumed that it occurred somewhere near
Quetta, its magnitude should be about 5.9.
1899 Dec 31 An earthquake in Kabul on 31 December 1899
at about 10 pm, brought down many adobe houses and several people
were killed. It was apparently preceded by foreshocks in October
and November. (Martin 1907)
1906 Oct 24 (7.1) This was a large, globally-recorded
earthquake with an epicenter somewhere on the border of Uzbekistan
with Afghanistan. The shock was felt with low intensities within
a radius of about 380 km: at Tsardzhui, Bukhara, Katta Kurgan,
Samarkand, Tashkent, Khodzent (Leninabad 40.29N, 69.63E), Khorog,
Kelif, Kerki, as far as Ufra (40.02N, 53.04E) but it was only
at Aivadz (36.95oN-68.95oE) and Termez (37.22N, 67.27E) that the
shock was strong enough to cause damage. We could find no macroseismic
information from Afghanistan.
Macroseismic information is insufficient to define
an epicentral area; instrumental data merely confirm a general
location in the region north of Termez. (Seismische Monatsber.
Physikal. Observ. Tiflis, 1906, p.9, Tbilisi); Gubin (1960),
Levitski (1908); Mitskevich (1937); Spesivcheva (1933), Izvest.
Post. Tsentr. Seism. Komis., vol.3, no2
1907 Oct 23 (6.1) Little is known about the effects of this earthquake in the region of Kerki in Turkmenistan, except that it caused some damage at Kizil Ayak on the Amu Darya. This event occurred on the time of an earthquake in Sicily and instrumental readings are confused. (Scheu & Lais, 1912) .
1908 Jul 26 (5.3) An earthquake in north-west Afghanistan caused damage to a few villages in the Injil area (34.6N 61.5E) north-east of Herat, but details are lacking. The shock was strong at Herat, at nearby Karizak and everywhere in the Herat valley, where it is said to have lasted for one minute. The shock was felt at Torbat-i Jam but there is no evidence that it was felt in Mashhad, 320 km north-west of Herat. [PRO.FO.Mashad 248/939(01.08, 15.08, 01.09.1908); Patterson (1908)].
1909 Jul 7 (7.5) This earthquake, probably consisting
of two events, one shallow and the other deep, was widely recorded
one minute apart by the global seismographic network of the time.
The solution by Gutenberg gives a rough location (±3°)
at 36.5°N, 70.5°E, which places a single event somewhere
in Badakhshan in north-eastern Afghanistan, at a focal depth of
230±30 km, to which Gutenberg assigns M = 7.1(±0.5)
and mB = 7.6 (±0.4) (Gutenberg, 1947, a location and depth
which were adopted by later authors who assign to the earthquake
a larger magnitude of 8.0, presumably by adding to 7.1 a depth
correction (Duda, 1965; Kondorskaya and Shebalin, 1997).
Until recently, published macroseismic information exclusively
derived from Russian territory north of the Amu Darya river, favors
an deep location, not only because of the large area over which
the earthquake was felt, but also because, in spite of its large
magnitude, the shock did not cause damage anywhere in the territory.
Along the alluvial valley of the Amu Darya river a few local houses
suffered minor damaged in Patta Kesran (37.1, 67.2), Aivadj (36.98,
68.03) and Sarai Kamar (near Kirovabad 37.24, 69.09) but not in
near-by Termez (37.2, 67.3) where the shock was rather strong
but caused no damage. To the north of these places the earthquake
was felt chiefly in alluvial valleys (Khorog (37.49, 71.55), Samarkand
(39.66, 66.95), Khodzent (40.29, 69.63), and Kokand (40.53, 70.93)),
which at great epicentral distances tend to enhance ground motions
in large earthquakes. It was perceptible at Kerki (37.83, 65.20),
Katta Kurgan (39.90, 66.25), Chust (41.00, 71.23) Andijan (40.79,
72.34) and Murgab (38.17, 73.95).
This information has lead to a macroseismic location near
the large urban settlement of Aivadj on the Amu Darya, after which
the Russian catalog names the event and assigns to it a magnitude
mb of 7.7, and a radius of perceptibility of 700 km (Kondorskaya
and Shebalin 1997). However, unpublished reports of the Political
Agents in India, Iran and the Hindu Kush, as well as the Indian
press show that damage was serious south of the Amu Darya in
Badakhshan (37.6, 70.8), in Afghanistan and in the region of the
North-west Frontier. Maximum effects were reported along the Kunar
valley, from Asmar (35.03, 71.36), Aradu (35.32, 71.31), Drosh
(35.55, 71.80) as far north as Chitral (36.02, 71.75), and from
the levy posts between these places.
Unspecified damage, probably due to landslides and rockfalls,
was also reported from Alpurai (34.90, 72.65), Karori (34.88,
72.76) and Besham (34.93, 72.87). The Lady Minto hospital in Swat
(34.90, 72.49) was damaged and in villages between this place
and Dir (35.20, 71.88) houses collapsed without fatalities.
In the Northwest Frontier Province rockfalls destroyed
levy posts, disrupted telephone lines and blocked many passes
into Badakhshan where summer camps were destroyed. We have no
information from Jalalabad in Afghanistan, but in Kabul (34.53,
69.14), several houses collapsed and about 10 persons were killed,
in addition to many cattle.
We have no details from Khost (33.3, 69.9) and Waziristan
(32.9, 70.6) south of Jalalabad, except that the shock was felt
in these regions. Because of hostilities access to these regions
was restricted. Some houses were damaged in Kohat (33.60, 71.44
) to the south, and in Gilgit to the NE (35.92, 74.29). To the
west, in Lahore (31.56, 74.35) the shock was strong enough to
awake people and cause some panic. The earthquake was felt strongly
at Mussoorie (30.45, 78.08), it was reported from Srinagar (34.08,
74.81), and it was barely perceptuble in Tashkent (41.31, 69.29).
The earthquake was followed by many aftershocks which were
reported from the upper Kunar region, the largest of which on
7 September caused some additional damage in Swat.
We interpret this sequence to have been a double event
consisting of a shallow earthquake that caused damage and aftershocks
in the Kunar area, followed by a deep earthquake centered further
west. Instrumental readings are too few and too inconsistent
to attempt a revised instrumental location but the data suggest
two consecutive shocks each of MS7.5, separated by an interval
of little more than one minute. The second event appears to have
occurred west of the first and its focal depth may have been subcrustal.
[IO.L.P/S.7.230.1102,1114,1146 (Swat) 08,10,15.07.1909; IO.L.P/S
7.230., 1114,1171 (Kabul) 17.07.1909; IO.L.P/S 7.230.1275 (Gilgit)
07.1909; IO.L.P/S 7.231.1341.1401 (Mashhad) 31.07.1909; IO.L.P/S
7.231.1466 (Dir) 15.09.1906; IO.L/P&S Turkestan no.1401, Gubin
(1960.344); Paisa Akhbar.10-14.07.1909, Spesivcheva (1933), Kondorskaya
and Shebalin (1997), Biullet. Postr. Tsentr. Seism. Komm. for
1909, BCIS Strasbourg Archives Files:1909.no.11.
1911 Jan 1 (7.1) This was a relatively large
earthquake in northern Afghanistan, followed four hours later
by an aftershock of Ms = 6.5. Macroseismic information is sparse,
some of which is confused with the effects of the large (Ms =
8.3) Kebin earthquake two days later.
Maximum damage in the January 1st earthquake sequence
occurred between Feyzabad (37.12N, 70.56E), Khnabad (36.68N, 69.11E)
and Kalan (35.19N, 69.23E). In the region of Kalan 60 houses
collapsed killing 240 people; in Khanabad 70 houses were destroyed
and twi people were killed, while in the region of Feyzabad houses,
the number of which is not given,were ruined with fatalities.
Damage extended to the region of Kabul (34.53N, 69.13), where
about 300 houses collapsed killing 460 people.
The shock was rather strong at Shuburghan (36.67N, 65.74E),
Termez (37.22N, 67.28E) and Mazar-I Sharif (36.70N, 67.10), and
less so at Kerki (37.82N, 65.20E) and Peshawar (34.01N, 71.54E).
At Takhtebazar (35.96N, 62.91E) lamps were set swinging and plaster
fell off ceilings. At nearby Kushka (35.31N, 62.41E) the earthquake
was hardly felt but it was noticed because of the swinging of
lamps. The shock was generally noticed in Bukhara (39.77N, 64.42E)
and Kattakurgan (39.90N, 66.25E), but it was hardly perceptible
in Tashkent (41.31N, 69.30) , Samarqand (39.66N, 66.96E) and Kushka.
[Zakaspiskoe Obozrenie:21-23.12.10; Turkestanskie Vedomosti:21.12.10;
Shpil'kov 1914; Gorshkov 1941]. The India Office consular correspondence
gives no evidence the shock to have been felt at Herat (34.14N,
62.17E) or at Mashhad (36.16N, 59.51E). It is impotant to point
out that far-field information comes chiefly from sites on alluvial
basins that could have enhanced ground motions at large distances.
The epicentral area of the earthquake that can be assessed
from macroseismic information, therefore, must be sought near
36.0N, 70.0E, but it is not clear whether it belongs to the first
or to the second shock. The main shock and its largest aftershock
were widely recorded instrumentally. An early crude instrumental
location places the main shock in the Altai (43.4N, 74.0E) which
is 880 km to the NE of the macroseismic epicenter [Nikiforov 1912],
while later relocations bring it closer to the adopted epicenter,
i.e. to 38.0N, 66.0E given by Gutenberg and Richter (1965), and
36.5N, 66.5E by Kondorskaya and Shebalin (1997).
Instrumental data are sufficient to allow calculation of
the surface-wave magnitude of the main shock from 29 stations
using the Prague formula, which gives Ms = 7.1(+-0.3), compared
to mB = 7.2 in Gutenberg and Richter. For the forshock at 14h
59m, from seven stations we find Ms = 6.5(+-0.2). In these calculations
we have assumed normal depth.
Gutenberg and Richter estimate a depth of 50 km for the main
shock and 20 km for the foreshock. The pattern of intensity distribution
does suggest somewhat greater depth than normal for the main shock,
but the small difference between body and surface magnitudes does
not. We have no additional data that could help decide on the
actual depth.
1913 Sep 9 (5.0) A strong earthquake at Ayvadz (36.98,
68.03) on 9 September 1913 cause the collapsed of adobe and the
damage of stone masonry houses. The shock caused liquefaction
of the ground in the Shaartuz area (37.27, 68.13) [Gorshkov 1941].
1918 Nov 29 (6.2) A violent earthquake took place in Afghanistan, between Kalat-i Ghilzai (32.11N, 66.90E) and Ghazni (33.56N, 68.42E) causing many deaths due to the collapse of houses. It is also said to have increased the flow of water in springs and qanats, and that even some dry qanats begun to yield water [IO L/P&S Balucistan/10/814]. The shock was strong at Jabal Saraj (35.13N, 69.24E) where some walls were thrown down [Heuckroth and Karim 1970].
1931 Sep 10 (5.0) In 1855 a group of nine 36-45 m high minarets existed in the complex of the musalla of Gauhar Shad in Herat (34.34, 62.19), two of which collapsed in the earthquake of 10 September 1931. The earthquake shock was felt at Murgab (37.49, 61.98) [Gorshkov 1941; Byron 1937:99; Blunt 1957).
1933 Oct 16 (5.6) A damaging earthquake on 16 October 1933 caused the collapse of three forts in the Oruzgan (32.93, 66.63) region. Slides and rockfalls were reported from this area and from Day Chupan (32.63, 66.77) where the shock caused great concern. [Heuckroth and Karim 1970]
1934 Mar 30 A damaging earthquake on 30 March 1934 in the hills south of Maimana (35.92, 64.78). The villages of Pashtunb Kote (35.90, 64.78), Bato (35.72, 64.80) and Purkhisht (35.72, 64.87) were totally destroyed, and people fled the region and took refuge in the hills. The shock triggered slides and caused cracks in the ground. There is no evidence that damage extended to Maimana. Aftershocks continued for 10 days. No teleseismic data have been found for this event [Furon (1951); Huckriede, (date); Kursten et al (1962); Stenz (1945)].
1935 May 30 (7.7) (Quetta) This entry on
the largest earthquake near the SE border of Afghanistan is extracted
from Ambraseys and Bilham (Earthquakes in Northern Baluchistan,
Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer. in the press 2002). Although Baluchistan
in 1935 had one of the lowest population densities on the subcontinent
of India, it occurred where most of the population lived. For
this reason, and despite the initiation of earthquake resistant
design triggered by the nearby 1931 sequence, the 1935 Quetta
earthquake resulted in the largest number of fatalities of any
earthquake on the Indian plate or its boundaries in the past two
centuries.
Quetta was ceded to the British in 1877. Before then
Quetta was a station which controlled the trade route from India
to Kandahar, as well as the Bolan Pass to the south, and the
road to Kalat and to Persian Baluchistan. Although a sketch of
the fort at this time looks quite imposing an 1839 report
describes Quetta as "a most miserable mud town with a small
castle on a mound having one small gun on a rickety carriage "
(Spate, 1954). Photographs of the town just before, and after,
the 1935 earthquake reveal a busy frontier town that was severely
damaged by the event.
Detailed information survives for the Quetta earthquake,
(Situation Reports 31.05-13.08.1935, Files no. 1 to 73 in the
Archives of the Government of India Bureau in Simla), as well
as from West (1936), Jackson (1960), Skrine (1936), and Piney
(1938). Most of the damage to rural and urban houses, chiefly
of mud brick construction, was enclosed within a narrow zone,
with Baleli and Quetta in the north extending in a south-westerly
direction into the Harboi Hills, about 160 km long and 25 km broad.
A great deal of the land in the zone is unproductive, containing
only a few large villages where water could be found in underground
irrigation and water supply conduits (qariz, qanat). In addition
to the towns of Quetta and Mastung at least 100 villages in Quetta
subdivision and Kalat State were totally destroyed.
Starting from the north, Baleli was totally destroyed,
108 people were killed and 23 were injured. At Kuchlagh all houses
were ruined and the railway depot collapsed with the loss of 8
lives and 9 injured. Further south, Sheik Manda was razed to the
ground and in near-by Nauhissar 77 people were killed and 28 injured.
Quetta, a military garrison town, with a population of
about 40,000 (summer population 65,000), is built on a slope crossed
by two nullahs (watercourses). The Habib Nullah separated the
Civil Lines and town from the cantonment, and the Durani Nullah,
a kilometre further north, ran parallel to it for most of its
length. Both nullahs were crossed by bridges at several points.
The Civil Lines was the more densely populated part of the town.
It occupied an area of about 4 square kilometres and it was located
south of Habib Nullah, an area with a high water table in the
spring. This low lying part of Quetta was utterly destroyed, and
about 15,000 people lost their lives (Pinhey, 1938). The Police
Lines, the Durbar Hall, the Civil and Mission Hospitals, and the
Club were ruined and the Residency was damaged. The only buildings
that survived the earthquake with minor damage were the few reinforced
concrete structures and the new railway quarters, constructed
since the 1931 earthquake using earthquake-resistant principles,
and situated in the most damaged part of the Civil Station.
North of the Habib Nulla, on higher ground, the cantonment
was much less affected and only a few houses collapsed. The Garrison
church and the British and Indian Military hospitals were undamaged.
The only serious damage done to the cantonments was a belt about
1 km wide immediately adjoining the Durani watercourse and the
Civil Lines, damage decreasing rapidly towards the north-east.
Here a good deal of damage was done to the Fort and some of its
buildings collapsed.
The airfield, with its modern hangars and barrack blocks,
stood to the north-west, apart from the city and cantonment. In
the RAF lines the hangars were left standing but little else.
Every aircraft was so damaged that it was unsafe to fly. The
earthquake caused no serious damage to the piped water supply
nor to the power stations which continued to work on restricted
load.
South of Quetta, Kansi was totally destroyed; 1,010 people
were killed and 370 were injured. Also Sariab was razed to the
ground with the loss of 1,206 lives and 641 people injured. At
Durani 101 people were killed and 114 were injured. At Spezand,
Dingar and Mand-i Haji local houses were flattened but the railway
station at Spezand was not destroyed. Tiri was utterly destroyed
with the loss of 710 lives and 275 people injured. Mastung, 65
km south of Kuchlagh, was flattened by the shock together with
the Khan's palace, killing altogether 1,736 people and injuring
716.
South-west of Mastung, small settlements in the Shirinab
valley which extends from Kuhnak to Manguchar, along a distance
of 90 km by road, were destroyed. This region was within the thinly
populated tribal territory belonging to the Khan of Kalat, and
damage details are lacking. Pringabad, the only large settlement
in this region was destroyed; 369 people were killed and 234 were
injured. Manguchar, 100 km south of Kuchlagh, was also destroyed;
185 people were killed and 185 were injured.
Destruction extended south into the State of Kalat,
155 km from Kuchlag. Kalat itself was ruined with 120 people killed
and 50 injured. In Kalat State, out of a population of 10,000,
2,900 were killed and 5,000 injured. It was estimated that all
villages between Quetta and Kalat were destroyed with 70% of population
either dead or injured.
Outside the epicentral region damage was widespread to
dilapidated rural houses, particularly in many places in the Indus
valley and in the Spin Baldak (Qla-i Jadid) and the Kandahar regions
of Afghanistan (Stenz, 1945).
Liquefaction of the ground and mud volcanoes were reported
in the valley north-west of Quetta. Some 20 km south of Kalat
on the main road to Surab, about 5 km east off the road near the
village of Thok (28.333°N, 66.517°E), large quantities
of liquid mud were observed coming out from the top of an old
mud volcano at the time of the earthquake, the eruption lasting
for nine hours. None of the local inhabitants could recall any
similar event in the past. The new flows had spread out beyond
the limits of the old occupying an area of radius 140m.
Official figures for the loss of life in the earthquake
are no more than estimates (Pinhey, 1935). In Quetta about 26,000
people were killed, of which a few thousand bodies were left buried
in the ruins of the town. Outside Quetta numbers are even more
uncertain, particularly in the Kalat tribal area, and where more
than the 8,410 deaths recorded. Altogether, the earthquake could
have killed about 35,000 people, but reliable figures are lacking.
The telegraph lines from Kalat and Quetta to Chaman and
Jacobabad were broken, but communication with the Government of
India at Simla was established by radio. The railway and road
communications, including the section through the Bolan Pass were
not badly damaged. Several small road bridges suffered slumping
of their abutments and five segments of the Quetta - Nushki rail
track had to be replaced at its crossing with the zone of ground
fissures (Thomson, 1936).
Administration became difficult owing to the fact that
nearly all the subordinate civil officers and police had been
killed. However, the fact that the troops escaped with few casualties
allowed a quick rescue and evacuation of survivors, the disposing
of thousands of dead by burial or by burning, sealing the town
to prevent looting and the outbreak of epidemic disease, protecting
and salvaging of property, and controlling the rehabilitation
of the region. Two battalions of the 7th Gurka Rifles who were
posted in Zhob and Chaman respectively at the time of the earthquake
felt the earthquake and returned to find their regimental institute
damaged beyond repair (Mackey, 1962).
Following the earthquake new laws were enacted for regulation
of the distribution to relatives of property salvaged in the earthquake,
for settlement of property claims and for the compulsory application
of earthquake resistant design for all new public buildings and
engineering structures, (Robertson 1948, and Khan 1956). Priority
was given to the repair and reconstruction of destroyed qanats
(underground irrigation channels) throughout the affected area
to secure the next harvest.
Contrary to what has been said by a number of authors,
that the shock was felt within a radius of only 280 km,
Urdu and Hindi press reports confirm that the shock was felt over
a large area, as far as Amritsar, Sultanpur and Simla to the east
(1,000 km), to Jatti (610 km) on the mouth of the Indus to the
south, Dera Ismail Khan (500 km) to the north, and Chagai (250
km) to the east, in the last two directions information is lacking
beyond these points into Afghanistan..
The earthquake was followed by a long sequence of relatively
small magnitude earthquakes, the largest of which in the south
part of the epicentral area did not exceed a magnitude Ms 6.0.
Shocks continued to be felt until the beginning of October.
No shocks were reported before the earthquake, but a bright orange
glow was seen over Quetta to the west, and further south, near
Kalat, flashes of light were reported along the flanks of the
mountains on both sides of the valley.
Following the earthquake a survey of the north-west dipping
thrust faults south-west of Quetta, which runs for a few kilometres
to the south-west along the northern flanks of Chiltan, showed
no signs of any movement, although 20 cm of uplift was detected
on bed-rock benchmarks near the Quetta brewery that lies 5 km
west of the town on the hanging wall of the fault. Ground deformations
which extended discontinuously for about 105 km were followed
the south side of the Chiltan Range toward Kalat, striking N15E.
Over the greater part of this distance they took the form of strands
of open cracks, 2 to 20 cm wide, mostly in alluvium. About 8 km
west of Mastung the ground of the west side of these cracks was
downthrown on average by about 80 cm, though a little further
south the sense of vertical movement was reversed. In some places,
instead of a throw or open cracks, the ground had been heaved
up, the uplifted portion being 30 cm or more high and several
metres wide.
Where the locus of ground deformation crossed the railway
that runs from Spezand to Nushki, about 3 km west of Mastung Road
Station, the track had been uplifted and the rails buckled. Where
bedrock intervened along these zones of fissures in alluvium,
the cracks died out, with rockfalls and shattered rock taking
the place of fissuring along the same line. This was well seen
to the north-west of Mastung Road, on the southern flanks of the
Chiltan Range. The zone of fissures extended further south,
past Kalat. A few kilometres of SW of the village, ground cracks
passed beneath an adobe house, displacing its walls but leaving
them standing.
It appears, therefore, that the earthquake was associated
with the zone of faults that lie along the east edge of the Chiltan
range and that this zone extends to the south passing near the
towns of Mastung and Kalat. Leveling data confirm abrupt uplift
of the foot of the range but triangulation data that would reveal
extent and sense of strike-slip motion have yet to be released.
The first-order North Baluchistan Series of the Survey of India
measured in 1909 (Burrard, 1911), passes southward through Quetta
and along the Chiltan range. Remeasurements of some of these
stations were in progress during the earthquake.
Our instrumental position, a relocation using p-waves from
231 stations and present ISC location procedures, is 160 km south
of Quetta, about 40 km west of Kalat and close to the location
computed by Engdahl et al. (1998) and Ramanathan &
Mukherji (1938). The formal errors are about 15 km, but as most
of the stations are grouped to the north-west. the true position
could be further to the north-west. The surface wave magnitude
calculated from 25 station magnitudes is 7.7, to which corresponds
a seismic moment of 17.0x1027 dyne cm, estimated by Singh and
Gupta (1980).
Lawrence et al. (1992) and Yeats et al (1997) associate
these ruptures with the Ghazaband fault zone, one of a series
of large north-south left-lateral strike-slip systems that accommodate
plate boundary shear. A temporary seismic network operated in
the region in 1978 suggests that microseismicity was at that time
concentrated near the ends of the 1935 rupture (Armbruster et
al., 1980). Fault plane solutions in the area confirm left-lateral
faulting on this trend, and, in spite of the lack of reported
observations of strike-slip offsets at the time, this is the most
likely mechanism for the 1935 earthquake.
1935 June 02 M=6.0 (Quetta) This was the largest aftershock of the 1935 sequence which added to the damage at Kalat, Maguchar and Mastung but not in Quetta. Had it occurred by itself it would have been considered a severe earthquake, and had there been any houses in the lower part of Quetta left to damage, the shock would certainly have damaged them. The aftershock triggered more slides in the Shirinabad valley and rockfalls from the sides of the Chiltan Range, south-west of Quetta, the dust rising 500 m above the mountain. Some damage reported from Nushki could be due to this aftershock.
1935 July 5 This earthquake occurred on the borders
of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and affected the region on both
sides of the Amu Darya river. Information is too poor to allow
location of its epicentral region which must be sought between
Baisun and Shirabad in Tadzhikistan where some damage was done
to unnamed localities, and to the irrigation system of Talishkan
and Tazhdiul
The shock was strongly felt to the south at Shibarghan
in Afghanistan at Sari-i Pul, Aq Chah, Balkh (Wazirabad), Mazar-i
Sharif and Tashkurgan, where it caused insignificant damage. The
earthquake was reported from a large area disproportionate for
its magnitude. For example it is alledged that it was perceptible
at Srinagar, at an epicentral distance of more than 700 km. (India
Weather Review for 1935, Simla); Gorshkov DATE, Spesivtsev et
al. (1941); Heuckroth & Karim (1970).
1948 Jan 28 (6.5) A damaging earthquake occurred in the region of Balkh in northern Afghanistan, over a large area between Shah Anjir (36.34, 67.22) and Mazari Sharif (36.70, 67.11). Much damage occurred near the Dulan Pass, at Shah Injir, Yakatal and Quduk Mulla, where a number of people and domestic animals were killed. At Mazari Sharif (36.70, 67.11), 45 km from the pass, old houses and shops were destroyed and the dome and towers of the shrine building fell down. At Samangan, 90 km away, a few houses were ruined and the sugar storage building was destroyed. The shock was strong at Maimana (35.92, 64.76) but it did not cause significant damage. The earthquake was widely felt, as far as Kabul (34.53, 69.12), Dushanbe (38.57, 68.77) and Samarkand (370 km), but not at Herat (Ittilaat 13.11.1326); Heuckroth & Karim (1970).
1950 Sep 24 (5.6) An earthquake on 24 September 1950 with an instrumental location on the Iran-Afghanistan border, just south of Taiabad. There are no macroseismic data for this event except for the unconfirmed information that about this time a shock caused the collapse of a 16th century minaret in the Musalla of Gawrshad in Herat, 130 km away, already in ruins, leaving seven minarets leaning in different directions (Byron 1937:99; Dupree 1971; Blunt 1957).
1952 An earthquake at noon on a day at the end of autumn probably in 1952, occurred in the Schkurigal-Bashgal region, at Ozzuk (35.80, 71.27), Appsigh (35.80, 71.25), and the upper Bashgal basin and Deywanababa (35.90, 71.30), but not in Lulook (35.77, 71.22), where damage was caused by falling rocks. Cracks in the ground and in snowfields were reported from Deywanababa and Barge Matal (35.67, 71.33). In the Munjam valley (36.02, 70.76) the shock was strong but it did not destroy any houses, even though falling rocks were numerous [Danby et al. 1972].
1955 Aug 29 This was one of the many shocks that preceded and followed the August 29th event over a period of one month, ruining many houses at Gulran in north-west Afganistan. The shock was felt strongly 100 km away, across the border in Iran, at Torbat Sheykh Jam, where it caused no damage. No association of this event can be made with the shocks recorded by the Soviet and Indian networks during the period 28 to 30 August (Bozorgnian, 1962; Heuckroth & Karim, 1970).
1956 June 9 ( 7.4) A large magnitude earthquake
occurred in the Bamian district, Afghanistan. Much of the destruction
was in the valley between the Kahmard and the Saighan mountains,
a sparsely populated region with no large villages, at an altitude
over 3000 m. Little is known about damage to individual settlements,
except that the few small mountain villages around Kahmard (35.33N,
67.50E) and Saighan (35.17N, 67.70E) were totally destroyed, and
those in the district of Yakwalang (34.73N, 66.97E) were heavily
damaged with loss of life. Contrary to information in the press
the earthquake caused surprisingly little loss of life, fewer
than 70 people.
The epicentral region may be defined roughly within
an are about 120 km long and 40 km wide, running from Yakwalang
in the south to Kahmard and Doab (35.55N, 67.81E) in the north-east.
Within this zone the earthquake triggered rockfalls and landslides
which were one of the causes of additional destruction. The largest
slide occurred at Kami Kharqushaq (35.36N, 67.53E), about 15 km
north-west of the village of Kahmard. An estimated 100,000 cubic
metres of limestones and marls slid down damming the upper valley
of the Kamar river, holding back eight million cubic metres of
water for four days. The dam gave way on 14 June, and the flood
swept away the settlements in the valley, drowning about 350 people,
leaving behind a small lake that marks the site of the slide.
Another large landslide at Darra-i Shikari (34.88N, 67.78E), about
25 km north-east of Bamian (34.82N, 67.53E), blocked roads and
disrupted communications, killing a number of domestic animals.
Also at Yakwalang, slides blocked roads and killed herds of animals.
Outside this region, around Pul-I Khuni (35.95N, 68.71E),
Baghlan (36.14N, 68.70E), Kunduz (36.73N, 68.86E), Seh Kundi (33..35N,
68.40E) and Kabul (34.53N, 69.13E) the shock casued some damage,
great panic, but no loss of life.
The earthquake was felt as far as Termez (37.22N, 67.27E),
Motovabad (37.34N, 68.67E) and Chitral (36.02N, 71.75E) and it
was perceptible at Stalinabad (38.57N, 68.78E) but not in Peshawar
[Wesson (1972), Furrer (1956); Heuckroth & Karim (1970)]
1956 Sep 16 (6.7 ) A damaging earthquake occurred
in the Lohgar district (33.98N, 68.99E) in north-east Afganistan,
near the border with Pakistan. Little is known in detail about
the damage in the epicentral area which includes the villages
of Said Karani (33.68N, 69.37E), Laza and Jaji (33.78N, 69.67E)
where a number of houses collapsed and a few people were killed.
In the Hindu Kush the earthquake caused landslides and snow-avalanches
depending on local conditions. Some villages suffered slight damage
while others suffered none. Deywanababa (35.90N, 71.30E) was outstanding
in being the scene of an avalanche that killed a few people.
The shock triggered rockfalls from the Mangal mountain that killed
a number of animals. Also in Nuristan, the shock caused snow-avalanches
from area above the snow-line.
The earthquake was felt over in Afghanistan and Pakistan
in an area disproportionately large for its magnitude. Felt reports
are available from the districts of Hazarajat, Parwan (35.1N,
69.2E), Ghazni (33.63N, 68.95E), Kohat (33.59N, 71.44E), Parachinar
(33.90N, 70.10E), Behsud (34.38N, 67.53E), Rawalpindi (33.69N,
73.04E) and Srinagar (34.08N, 74.81E), within a radius of over
300 km.
A large aftershock on 16 September was felt in the Lohgar
district, in Kabul, in the region of Jalalabad and across the
border at Parachinar.[Wesson (1972); Danby et al. (1972); Seism.
Bull. Sep. 1956, p.5,10, Met. Dept. India, Delhi; Heuckroth &
Karim (1970).
1962 Sep 12 (6.0) An earthquake in the Thakar province of north-east Afganistan. The available macroseismic information is insufficient to define an epicentral region. In Afganistan the shock was strong in the districts of Baghlan and Qatghan and it was felt up to 250 km away at Jalalabad, Kabul and Mazar-i Sherif. In the north, in Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan, the shock was equally strong at Karshi, Samarkand, Leninabad and Khorg. The shock was felt within a radius of 450 km. The large felt area and small magnitude suggests that this was a lower crust event (Zemletriasenia v SSSR v 1962, (1964) pp.70,82, Izd. Nauka, Moscow); Heuckroth & Karim (1970).
1968 Sep 3 (5.0) This relatively small earthquake has been relocated by Engdahl et al (1998) in northern Afghanistan between Nahrin and Khanabad, at a focal depth of 40 km. While we can find no macroseismic information from Afghanistan, the event was widely felt in the plains of Amu Darya and reported from 37 localities in Tajikistan, up to epicentral distances of 250 km. It was felt strongly at Dangana (37.60, 69.78), Dangara (38.09, 69.33), Iol (37.77, 70.18), Khorog (37.49, 71.54), Kulyab (37.91, 69.78), Moskovski (37.61, 69.70), Obi Garm (38.72, 69.70), Pyandzh (37.23, 69.09), and it was perceptible at Dushanbe (38.57, 68.78) and Regar (38.52, 68.18) (Zakharova et al., 1972).
1972 Jun 24 (6.4) A damaging earthquake in the district of Takhar in northern Afghanistan on 24 June 1972. The large villages of Khost Fering, Nahrin (36.07N, 69.13E), Ishkimish (36.38N, 69.32E) and smaller settlenets within a radius of about 25 km were ruined. A few hundred houses collapsed and about 20 people were killed. Damage to local houses was reported from Baghlan, Pul-i Khumri and Warsaj at epicentral distances of 60 km. The shock was felt at Kabul, in Peshawar and Rawalpindi in Pakistan, and as far as Kulyab (37.91, 69.78), Khorog (37.49N, 71.54), Obi Garm (38.72N, 69.70E), on the Nurek dam site (38.39N, 69.32E), and in Samarkland (39.66N, 66.95E) in Soviet Central Asia, that is, within a radius of 370 km. It was perceptible at Dushanbe (38.57, 68.78).[Seismological Bulletin for 1972, Seism. Center Kabul Univ., Kabul], Danby (1972) .
1975 Oct 3 (6.8) An earthquake on the Chaman fault
zone, close to the borders with Afghanistan at Spin Tezha, followed
12 hours later by an aftershock of 6.5. Little is known about
the effects of these events in the epicentral region, a sparsely
inhabited area of the Afghan border, except that they caused some
minor damage at Quetta. The shock was felt strongly at Quetta
and in north-west Baluchistan.
The trace, probably of only a small segment, of a north-south
trending discontinuous surface fault break was found in alluvium
which could be followed for about 5 km south of Spin Tezha along
the Chaman fault zone. It showed an average left-lateral displacement
of about 4 cm, with minor dip-slip up to the west, consistent
with the earthquake focal mechanism. Farah (1976); Lawrence&
Yeats (1979).
1976 Mar 19 (5.5) A relatively small earthquake on 19 March 1976 caused considerable damage in Samangan province, killing about 50 people and ruining more than 1,000 local houses. Maximum damage was reported from the areas of Khulm (36.69, 67.69) and from the nearby Tashkurgan gorges. Rockfalls and slides in the eastern section of the Khulm Gorge buried several vehicles adding to the loss of life. The shock was strong at Kornilovka, and was felt at Termez, Denay, Khorog, Dushanbe, and Kulyab and it was perceptible at Samarkand (Zemltr.v CCP1976(280) p.160.
1981 Jun 13 (5.4) A damaging earthquake in northern Afghanistan. Little is known about its effects in the epicentral area which was somewhere between Samangan and Jozjan, where a number of people were killed. The shock was felt along the Amu Darya from Termez to Parkhar and further north in Uzbekistan at Kurgan Tyube and Dushanbe. It was perceptible at Samarkand at an epicentral distance of 390 km.
1982 Dec 16 (6.5) A destructive earthquake in north Afghanistan. Little is known about the effects of this event apart from the fact that it destroyed approximately 7,000 houses, killing 450 and injuring 3,000 people in the Baghlan district. The shock caused serious damage and loss of life in the coal mines in the district. The earthquake was felt as far as Tashkent, Murgab and Tarbela, over an area of a radius of 520 km.
1983 Dec 7 (4.6) A small earthquake in Afghanistan with an instrumental epicenter in the region of Takhar. The shock was felt at Kuliab and Khorog at an epicentral distance of about 200 km.
1984 Jul 3 (5.2) We have no macroseismic data from Afghanistan for this earthquake in the Takhar district. The shock was felt at Khorog, Kuliab, Nurek, Kabodien, and was perceptible at Dushambe, Samarkand and Tashkent. (Barinova et al.,1987; Kondorskaia et al.,1987)
1986 Jan 12 (5.5) An earthquake in north-east Afghanistan with an instrumental location near Kabul. No macroseismic information is available with the exception that the shock was felt strongly in the Kabul area and at Peshawar in Pakistan.
1998 Feb 4 (5.9) A destructive earthquake in the Rustaq area (37.12, 69.82) of north-east Afghanistan resulted in estimated losses of 2,300 people killed, 800 injured and 8,100 houses destroyed, the shock making 8,000 homeless. The earthquake triggered extensive landslides which added to the damage, killing nore than 6,000 livestock. The shock was felt at Dushanbe in Tadjikistan and was perceptible in Tashkent.
1998 May 30 (6.5) A destructive earthquake in north-east
Afghanistan. The shock killed about 4,000 people, injuring many
thousands in the districts of Badakhshan and Takhar.
The shock was strong at Mazar-i Sharif (36.70, 67.11).
It was felt in Kabul (34.53, 69.13), and in northern Pakistan
at Peshawar (34.00, 71.54), Rawalpindi and Islamabad (33.72,
73.06), as well as at at Dushanbe (38.57, 68.77) in Tajikistan,
Andijan (40.79, 72.34) and it was perceptible at Samarkand (39.66,
66.95) and Tashkent (41.31, 69.30).
1999 Feb 11 (5.8) An earthquake in the Lowgar (Logar) and Vardak provinces of Afghanistan destroyed approximately 7,000 houses, killing 70, injuring about 500 people, and making at least 14,000 homeless. Damage extended to Kabul where several people were injured. The shock was felt in Pakistan at Peshawar and Islamabad.
2002 Jan 3 13:40 (6.3) The Takhar province of the Hindu Kush. No damage or casualties have been reported so far. Buildings shook in several major cities including Kabul, Islamabad, Delhi, Peshawar and Mazar-e-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan.
2002 March 3 (7.2) The epicenter of the earthquake was in the Hindu Kush region with a depth of 195 km. The earthquake was felt in Kabul, Jalalabad, Faizabad, Mazar-i-Sharif and Bamiyan. In Kabul, 32 houses were destroyed, 20 persons injured and 6 persons killed in the city. Except for cracked walls, there were no reports of destruction or injuries in rural areas adjacent to Kabul. A landslide 20 km south-east of Aybak, on the road to Ruy-e-Du Ab district in the Surkenda Valley created a transient lake. Damage was extensive in the villages of Souchi Bala Payan, Targane and Yawan and two other settlements. Although 340 houses were destroyed the absence of reports of significant injuries or deaths is perceived due to the fact that the earthquake took place during the day when most people were not at home. The reports from Baharak district, located east of Faizabad, indicate that a limited number of houses were destroyed in villages around the district capital and one death was registered in Malang Ab. In Jurm, there are reports of two houses destroyed in Dashteq, another eight in Abad, fifty in Souch and six in Zardeh. (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) OCHA/GVA - 2002/0052 4 Mar 2002. Afghanistan- Earthquake OCHA Situation Report No. 1).
2002 March 25. (Ms=6.0, 5.1, 5.8) A series of shallow earthquakes hit the Nahrin district of Baghlan province in the evening of 25 March, the early morning 26 March and the afternoon of 27 March. The epicenter of the earthquakes was located southeast of Nahrin district in Baghlan province. The affected area included a radius of 12-15 km around Nahrin. Other affected areas include Burkha, Panshjiri, Lakankhel and Toli, In all 78 villages were affected by the earthquakes resulting in approximately 1200 deaths OCHA Situation Reports No. 1-7 Afghanistan Earthquake. OCHA/GVA - 2002/0076, 30 March 2002.