Timeline of Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquakes since 2015
The country is prone to earthquakes due to its location near the meeting point between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
Published On 1 Sep 20251 Sep 2025
More than 800 people have been killed and over 2,500 wounded after a powerful earthquake hit the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan.
Due to its mountainous surroundings, Afghanistan is prone to tremors as it is located near the meeting point between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are a highly active seismic zone.
Here is a timeline of the deadliest earthquakes that have shaken the country over the past decade:
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August 31, 2025
A magnitude 6 earthquake hit the country’s eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar around midnight on Sunday (19:30 GMT on Sunday).
At least 600 people were killed in Kunar and 12 in Nangarhar, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Mufti Abdul Mateen.
Rescue operations are still under way as the earthquake destroyed several villages, said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Health Ministry.
October, 2023
Three earthquakes rocked Herat province in October 2023, in one of the country’s deadliest natural disasters in years.
On October 7, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck western Afghanistan’s Herat province.
Three days later, on October 11, another magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the province, and on October 15, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake was recorded.
According to the British Red Cross Society, at least 2,445 people were killed in these earthquakes.
March 21, 2023
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the northeastern province of Badakhshan, near the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
At least 13 people were killed.
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September 2022
Two earthquakes – magnitude 5.1 and magnitude 4.6 – hit the neighbouring provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar in northeastern Afghanistan.
At least eight people were reported killed.
June 22, 2022
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan’s provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost, and Nangarhar.
The disaster killed more than 1,000 people as several homes collapsed.
January 17, 2022
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a magnitude 5.3 shallow earthquake struck in Qadis district of Badghis province in western Afghanistan.
At least 26 people were killed.
October 26, 2015
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck near the Hindu Kush region in northeastern Afghanistan.
According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), 117 people were killed.
The IFRC reported, citing Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, that 272 people were killed while tremors were felt in many other countries.