A moderate earthquake was felt in parts of northern Pakistan and India on Friday. According to the United States Geological Survey, the hypocenter of this quake was located beneath the Hindukush region in northern Afghanistan, around 220 km below the surface. The magnitude reached 5.1. Residents of cities like Kabul (AFG), Peshawar, Islamabad (PAK), Srinagar (IND) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan) felt weak shaking following this event. Due to the depth, which is typical for Hindukush earthquakes, no significant damage is expected.

ShakeMap for the Hindukush earthquake in June 17th
Calculated intensities for the Hindukush earthquake (June 17th 2022, 9:22 UTC). Weak intensities (II bis III on EMS-98 scale) felt across northern Pakistan, Kashmir and Tajikistan. Moderate intensity (IV) expected for some parts of Afghanistan.

Several large to very large earthquakes occurred in the past decades in nothern Afghanistan, leading to severe damage and casualties. The most recent large event hit the area in 2015 with Magnitude 7.5, causing hundreds of casualties across northern Pakistan and nothern Afghanistan. Earlier this year, on May 23rd, a magnitude 5.0 centered in Takhar-provice destroyed several homes in nearby villages. Two people were killed by falling debris.