M6.6 earthquake 29 km SE of Jurm, Afghanistan

Thursday, April 16, 1908, 17:38:42 UTC · 36.658°N, 71.035°E

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 29 km SE of Jurm, Afghanistan on Thursday, April 16, 1908, 17:38:42 UTC, at a depth of 190.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on December 25, 1907.

Magnitude: 6.6; Strong · ms
Depth: 190 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

120 kilotons of TNT

That is about 8 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 251 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

253 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

190 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 100 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 5 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 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 · 256 km away
500 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1832
Afghanistan
22 Jan 1832 · 18 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
1874
Afghanistan
18 Oct 1874 · 260 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
1896M7.5
Afghanistan
23 Sep 1896 · 38 km away · intensity VI
1908M7.0
Hindu Kush
23 Oct 1908 · 51 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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