Earthquake of magnitude 3.7 jolts Afghanistan

An earthquake of magnitude 3.7 struck Afghanistan in the early hours of Friday, National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.

According to the NCS, the earthquake occured at 06:09 AM Indian Standard Time (IST) at a depth of 80 kilometres.

The NCS wrote on X, "EQ of M: 3.7, On: 24/10/2025 06:09:41 IST, Lat: 36.38 N, Long: 71.14 E, Depth: 80 Km, Location: Afghanistan."



Previously, an earthquake of magnitude 4.3 struck Afghanistan in the early hours of Tuesday.

On October 17, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan on Friday evening, marking the fourth quake to hit the country in less than a month and the second quake to hit the country in less than 12 hours. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the tremor occurred 47 km north-northwest of Khandud at 12:15 UTC (5:45 pm IST) at a depth of 43 km.

Shallow earthquakes are generally more dangerous than deep earthquakes. This is because the seismic waves from shallow earthquakes have a shorter distance to travel to the surface, resulting in stronger ground shaking and potentially more damage to structures, as well as greater casualties.

On September 18, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, reaffirmed India's commitment to promote peace, stability and development in Afghanistan.

Addressing the UN Security Council quarterly briefing on Afghanistan, Ambassador Parvathaneni emphasised India's priorities to provide humanitarian assistance and implement capacity-building initiatives for the Afghan people.

"India's immediate priorities in Afghanistan include provision of humanitarian assistance and implementation of capacity-building initiatives for the Afghan people," he added.

He also reaffirmed India's commitment to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Ambassador Parvathaneni expressed gratitude to Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Roza Otunbayeva, for her briefing.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India lie in one of the most seismically active zones in the world, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. The region frequently experiences moderate to strong earthquakes, often felt across borders due to the proximity of fault lines.