Reviewed by USGSTajikistan119y ago
M6.9 earthquake 127 km E of Khorugh, Tajikistan
Friday, October 23, 1908, 20:14:02 UTC · 37.557°N, 73.019°E
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 127 km E of Khorugh, Tajikistan on Friday, October 23, 1908, 20:14:02 UTC, at a depth of 220.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on October 6, 1902.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- Strong · mB
- Depth
- 220 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
338 kilotons of TNT
That is about 22 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 708 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
322 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
220 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 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2Hindu Kush region, AfghanistanOctober 6, 1902 · 253 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.842 km S of Jurm, AfghanistanApril 13, 1907 · 225 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.643 km NE of Khorugh, TajikistanDecember 25, 1907 · 97 km W of this epicenter
- 6.629 km SE of Jurm, AfghanistanApril 16, 1908 · 202 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.557 km NNW of Pārūn, AfghanistanMarch 12, 1908 · 284 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.311 km NE of Karakenja, TajikistanSeptember 15, 1907 · 230 km NW of this epicenter
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 7 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896M6.5
Xinjiang
5 Mar 1896 · 267 km away
7 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1832
Afghanistan
22 Jan 1832 · 214 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1896M7.5
Afghanistan
23 Sep 1896 · 189 km away · intensity VI
- 1908M7.0
Hindu Kush
23 Oct 1908 · 253 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.