2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes

2002 Hindu Kush, Afghanistan
Date March 3 and March 25, 2002
Magnitude 7.4, 6.1 Mw
Depth 256, 8 km
Epicenter 36°32′31″N 70°25′26″E / 36.542°N 70.424°E, 35°56′N 69°11′E / 35.93°N 69.19°E
Areas affected Afghanistan, Pakistan
Casualties At least 1,166 dead, thousands injured

The 2002 Hindu Kush earthquakes were two earthquakes which hit the Hindu Kush mountain range area in Afghanistan on March 3 and March 25, 2002. At least 166 people were killed in the first earthquake and at least a further thousand in the second.[1][2]

The March 3 earthquake

At 12:08:19 UTC a 7.4 tremor hit an area 65 km (40 mi) S of Feyzabad, Afghanistan. At least 150 people were killed, several injured and 400 houses damaged or destroyed by a landslide that dammed and flooded Surkundara Valley, Samangan Province. At least 13 people were killed at Kabul and Rostaq and 3 people killed in Bajaur, Pakistan. At least 300 houses were destroyed in Badakhshan and Takhar Provinces. A 45 meter wide fissure opened in Xiker Reservoir in Xinjiang, China. This was a deep focus event and was felt in much of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Felt also in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and India.[1]

The March 25 earthquake

At 14:56:33 UTC a 6.1 tremor hit an area 160 km (99 mi) SW of Feyzabad, Afghanistan. At least 1,000 people were killed, several hundred injured and several thousand homeless in Baghlan Province. At least 1,500 houses were destroyed or damaged at Nahrin and several hundred more in other areas of Baghlan Province. Landslides blocked many roads in the epicentral area. This was a shallow focus event and was felt strongly in much of northern Afghanistan. Also felt in the Islamabad-Peshawar area, Pakistan and at Dushanbe, Tajikistan.[2]

See also

References