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A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook this Saturday the province of Badakhshan, in northeastern Afghanistan, with its epicenter in the Jurm district, located within the Hindu Kush mountain range.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred at 6:05 PM local time (1:35 PM GMT) at a depth of 199 kilometers, which explains the absence of damage: earthquakes at that depth dissipate their energy before reaching the surface with destructive force.
The tremor was felt in several provinces in the northeast of the country and reached the capital, Kabul, causing concern among the population, although there were no material consequences.
The tremor was also felt in areas of neighboring Pakistan, including its capital, Islamabad, and in northern India, with authorities from neither country reporting any damage.
Mohammad Akbar Akbari, director of Disaster Management in Badakhshan, confirmed to EFE that the situation was not serious: "The earthquake was relatively strong and was felt in Badakhshan province as well as in several other provinces. According to the reports we have received so far, there have been no casualties or material damage in the nearby areas of Badakhshan."
The Taliban authorities, which exercise de facto control of the country, stated that initial assessments did not indicate any significant impact.
Badakhshan is historically one of the most seismically active provinces in Afghanistan, located in the collision zone between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, with a subduction rate of at least 39 millimeters per year.
The district of Jurm, the epicenter of the earthquake this Saturday, had also experienced a tremor of magnitude 5.3 on April 18, 2026, at a significant depth of 198.8 kilometers, which similarly occurred without any casualties or damage.
The most serious incident in the region dates back to November 3, 2025, when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in northern Afghanistan resulted in 30 deaths and 945 injuries in the provinces of Balkh and Samangan, and caused structural damage to the historic Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The Afghan earthquake occurs during a week of intense seismic activity on a global scale, highlighted by the devastating double earthquake in Venezuela on June 24 —magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5— which left 920 dead and more than 3,360 injured according to the official report, in addition to a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Japan and another of 6.5 in the Philippines.
This week, a 4.9 magnitude aftershock was recorded in Venezuela, with over 200 aftershocks accumulated since the main event, in what the USGS classified as the most powerful earthquakes recorded in that country since 1900.
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