Reviewed by USGSAfghanistan125y ago
M7.2 earthquake in Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan
Monday, October 6, 1902, 09:15:00 UTC · 36.500°N, 70.500°E
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck in Hindu Kush region, Afghanistan on Monday, October 6, 1902, 09:15:00 UTC, at a depth of 200.0 km (intermediate). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.2
- Major · ms
- Depth
- 200 km
- Intermediate
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
951 kilotons of TNT
That is about 63 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,995 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
267 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Eurasian and Indian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
200 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 500 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1842
Jalalabad
19 Feb 1842 · 234 km away
500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1832
Afghanistan
22 Jan 1832 · 45 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1874
Afghanistan
18 Oct 1874 · 215 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1896M7.5
Afghanistan
23 Sep 1896 · 71 km away · intensity VI
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.