The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake at a depth of 97.2 km in southern Badakshan Province, Afghanistan, slightly after 3.00 am local time on Sunday 14 September 2014 (slightly after 10.30 pm on Saturday 13 September 2014). Quakes at this depth are seldom dangerous, but are often felt over a wide area, and this one was reportedly felt as far away as Kabul, 214 km to the southwest of the epicenter.
The approximate location of the 14 September 2014 Badakshan Earthquake. Google Maps.
Eastern Afghanistan lies close to the boundary between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which runs through northern Afghanistan. The Indian Plate is moving northward relative to the Eurasian Plate, causing folding and uplift along this boundary, which has led to the formation of the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the other mountain ranges of Central Asia., and which makes the nations in this boundary zone prone to Earthquakes.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest nations on Earth and has suffered decades of war. This means that few (if any) buildings in the country are protected against the effects of Earthquakes, with many buildings in the area made of mud brick, a building material considered particularly hazardous during quakes, as the bricks have a tendency to liquify, trapping and suffocating people inside. The poor state of the transport network within the country and low numbers of medical staff mean that people injured in quakes are more likely to die as a result of their injuries than in more developed nations, adding to the death toll during such events.
See also...
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A Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake at a depth of 62 km struck Afghanistan's Laghman Province slightly after 1.55 pm...
On Monday 11 June 2012, slightly after 9.30 am local time (slightly after 5.0 am GMT) an Earthquake struck the Afghan province of Baghlan, about 40 km east of the provincial capitol, Pol-i-Khomri, at a depth of about 15 km, according to the United States Geological Survey, who recorded the quake as measuring 5.4 on the Richter Scale. This was followed by a second quake in almost exactly the same...
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