Kabul/New Delhi/Srinagar, 18 April (H.S.): A moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.0 on the Richter scale struck the mountainous Badakhshan region of Afghanistan on Saturday morning, sending low‑frequency tremors across parts of northern India, including the Kashmir Valley.

The quake, which occurred at 8:24 am Indian Standard Time, was centred near the village of Zaybak in Afghanistan’s remote Hindu Kush corridor, at coordinates 36.5536°N and 70.9259°E, and originated at a depth of approximately 190 kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface.

Focus on Afghanistan

Seismic data from the European‑Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and regional monitoring agencies confirm that the event was an intraplate, deep‑focus earthquake within the broader Hindu Kush‑Pamir seismic belt, a zone notorious for frequent moderate‑to‑strong quakes due to the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates.

At such depth, much of the seismic energy is absorbed by the overlying rock, which explains why, despite the release of energy equivalent to roughly 477 tons of TNT, the shaking felt at the surface in Afghanistan was relatively subdued.

In the immediate vicinity of the epicentre—Badakhshan’s rugged, sparsely populated terrain—reports so far indicate only mild swaying of buildings and no confirmed deaths or major structural damage.

Local authorities in the region have, however, urged residents to remain alert for potential aftershocks and to inspect older mud‑brick or stone‑masonry structures, which are especially vulnerable even to moderate shaking.

Afghan officials and international disaster‑monitoring bodies are reviewing early‑warning protocols and building‑code compliance in light of the cumulative seismic activity recorded in the Hindu Kush belt over the past weeks.

Tremors Reaching Kashmir

In India, the tremors were felt primarily in the higher‑altitude districts of the Kashmir Valley, where residents reported brief but discernible shaking lasting several seconds.

India’s National Centre for Seismology has emphasised that the depth and distance of the Afghan source attenuated the waveforms before they reached Indian territory, limiting the impact to light ground motion.

The April 18 tremor comes on the heels of a series of moderate‑magnitude events in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region, including a 5.8‑magnitude quake on April 3 that struck south of Jorm and caused at least a dozen fatalities and multiple injuries in Badakhshan.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar